Sorry, little sis, but the research says we older siblings are indeed punished more than the younger ones. Duke Magazine quotes a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland, and Duke (my alma mater, so can't be wrong), which found "parents punish older children more harshly - and that they're wise to do so."
The researchers formed a hypothesis that "parents need a reputation among their children for following through on threatened punishments." And since they know that younger children are watching the older, they tend to follow through more for earlier-borns. There's both an immediate child need to correct bad behavior, and a deterrent need for the rest of the family. Since the deterrent need goes down as you reach later borns, there is less motivation to punish.
They tested the hypothesis by looking at records of two measures of bad behavior - high school dropouts and teen pregnancy - and two measures of parent punishment - allowing kids to live at home and financial support. Sure enough, these measures followed birth order; earlier siblings were punished more and behaved better.
There have been countless studies on the effects of birth order on personality and behavior. Some say hormone levels in the womb vary by birth order. Others show that sibling rivalry leads later borns to take more risks. I haven't seen all the facts on all of the studies but this example here adds something new and compelling to the age-old arguments. If true, these measures would show that, on average, challenge leads to improvement for parents and children. More punishment means better behavior. And it doesn't take a study to realize that parents who don't challenge their kids to behave well end up with worse kids, on average.
Of course there may be an argument that too much punishment - or too much challenge - can lead to failure. You could argue that later borns give society more rebels and risk takers - in other words, the candles that burn twice as bright but half as long, and drive the most change (and improvement in the world).
But I'll let my younger sister find that study for me if she really wants to prove it.
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