Family constellation and creativity: firstborn predominance among classical music composers.

Biographies of classical musci composers were examined for family constellation information. Usable data were found for 80 composers. Firstborns, especially only children, were found significantly more frequently than in a sample of creative writers studied by Bliss. Increased frequency of firstborns was also suggested in a study of musical performers by Raychaudhuri. Classical musci composition was seen as an ability more similar to usual academic pursuits than creative writing.