It turns out, the order in which you were born can not only have an effect on your personality, but also your chances of academic success. According to Canadian duo Mitchell Moffit and Greg Brown, from Toronto, who present an online science show, several theories suggest that where you are in your family determines who you are.

According to Moffit and Brown, first-born children are expected to be higher academic achievers and more ambitious. They also have a stronger sense of responsibility and are generally more mature. They also tend to have better leadership skills than other birth orders.

The explanation is because although they get a lot more affection and attention from their parents, their parents have higher expectations for the first child.

This works as a self-fulfilling prophecy: if there are high expectations placed on you, you are more likely to want to work hard and live up to these expectations.

Middle-born children apparently tend to be more cooperative, flexible and sociable. This is due to the fact that as a middle-born child, there aren’t the high expectations of the first child, nor the relaxed attitude accorded to the last child.

As middle children receive less attention than their other siblings, they seek out relationships and friendships outside of their family, and can be social butterflies.

The youngest children tend to be likeable and charming. Other traits they carry are that they are more creative than older siblings, and have a stronger sense of security and confidence.

As their parents have already had other children, they tend to be a lot less strict and are a lot more lenient with their youngest children. Parents’ expectations will also be lower. As a result, youngest children will generally be less responsible and mature than older siblings, as they constantly feel like others will take the lead.

Only children tend to be academically able, creative and resourceful. But because they have never had to interact with siblings or companions of a similar age, they can have trouble relating to peers and can feel out of control when things in their life don’t go their way.

事实证明，出生顺序不仅会影响你的个

性，还会影响你取得学术成就的机会。

来自加拿大多伦多的米切尔·墨菲特和格雷格·布朗近日在一个在线科学秀中指出，

有几项理论表明，家庭中的排行决定了你是怎样的人。墨菲特和布朗认为，家中排行老大的孩子通常会在学术上取得更高的成

就，并且更具有野心。他们会有更强的责任感，并且通常来说更成熟。

相比其他孩子来说，老大往往有更好的领导能力。

究其原因，是他们从父母那里得到了更多的爱和关注，而父母对第一个孩子往往会有更高的期望。

这是一个自我实现的预言：如果你背负着很高的期望，就会更想努力工作，不辜负这些期望。

中间出生的孩子显然更倾向于合作，更加灵活，并且更善交际。原因是，中间出生的孩子不像第一个孩子那样背负着很高的期望，也不像最小的孩子一样接受较为放松的教养。

排行中间的孩子得到的关注比其他兄弟姐妹更少，他们会在家庭之外寻找关系和友谊，成为社交达人。

最小的孩子往往是可爱和迷人的。相比其他的孩子，他们更有创造性，有更强的安全感和信心。

因为父母已经有了其他孩子，所以他们往往很少受到严格的管教，成长环境相对宽松。父母的期望也会降低。

因此，最小的孩子通常不太负责任，而且往往更幼稚，因为他们常常觉得别人会主动。

独生子女往往具有较强的学术能力、创造力和应变能力。然而，因为他们从来不需要和兄弟姐妹或年龄相仿的同伴互动，他们不容易理解他人，而且当生活不顺心时，他们会感到失控。

 Words to Learn 相关词汇

   【预言】yùyán prophecy the foretelling or prediction of what is to come

    【社交达人】shèjiāo dárén social butterfly a very sociable person who flits from one social event to another