What You're Like In A Relationship, Based On Your Birth Order
Your birth order says a lot about you.
Getty Images Birth order can affect personality and personality can totally affect your dating experiences. Even though it’s only one factor that makes up a person and the outcome might vary case by case, it’s still a fun and useful way to predict what it’d be like to date someone depending on whether they’re the first, second, last, or the only child in their family.
If you’re curious, this is what it’s like to date you based on your birth order and what your birth order personality traits say about you:
First Born Birth Order Personality Traits
As the first child, you tend to be reliable, cautious, and high-achieving. Dating you is straightforward. You go through steps to progress the relationship and you don’t like undefined situations.
That being said, each step can take quite some time for you as you don’t open up easily and you hate rushing things. You’re also structured and responsible, perhaps not by nature but due to circumstances in your own family. Your dates are often well-planned and you’re rarely ever late. At times you can be quite competitive with your partner, having the tendency to take charge and one-up them even in little things, like choosing the best restaurant, or naming all the characters in Harry Potter. Well, you just enjoy winning.
You often do well in long-term relationships and can get into a serious mindset early on. But when it comes to casual dating or on-off hook-ups, you might have a harder time than your siblings to fully enjoy yourself.
Middle Child Birth Order Personality Traits
As the middle child, you’re cooperative, independent, and empathetic. At the same time, you can be quite rebellious, doing things not expected of you. Dating you is like being dealt a wild card—it’s hard to predict how the ride will turn out to be.
However, most often, you’re easy to get along with and you know how to listen. You don’t have too big of an ego and you’re not too fussed over if your partner wants pizza or fine dining for the next date, though sometimes you can be indecisive and rely on your partner to take charge. On the plus side, you’re willing to try new things.
In both long-term and short-term relationships, you like to go with the flow and you do your best to avoid conflicts.
Last Born Birth Order Personality Traits
As the baby of the family, you’re notoriously fun-loving, outgoing, and carefree. Dating you is one hell of an adventure with many awesome perks. You know the best places to go, the best food to eat, and the best people to hang out with. You tend to not mind little mundane things. For example, washing dishes and laundry can wait. You’re calm and relaxed and socially aware as you’ve seen and learned it all from your siblings, mostly without choice. So, it’s always great to bring you as plus-one to parties and have you lighten up the room.
Sometimes you can be quite naive and overly optimistic, and need your partner to get you back on the ground and draw you practical boundaries. You might also feel entitled to constant attention and have a tendency to stubbornly do things your own way. This often appears as confidence and seems attractive in short-term flings given that you’re also spontaneous at heart, but in long-term relationships it takes a mature partner to handle you in both your adult and baby moments.
Only Child Birth Order Personality Traits
As the only child, you’re self-sufficient, diligent, and a perfectionist. Dating you might not be the easiest because of how okay you genuinely are being on your own. But if it works, it’d be an amazing experience having a true partnership.
Unlike people with siblings who tend to seek comfort in others’ company as a habit, you love your alone time and you need it. Sometimes it might make you seem quiet, or even lonely, but it’s not true. You love parties like anyone else and you have a close-knit circle you can turn to anytime—you’re just very independent. As you don’t have siblings, your friends are your siblings. Naturally, you place high value in your friendships and own personal life even when you’re in a relationship.
When you first get with someone, you’re completely guarded. You might even come across as a bit standoffish and like you don’t really need anyone but yourself. However, the moment you feel like you can trust and open yourself up, you give yourself fully and you love wholly.
Ellen Nguyen is a Vietnamese writer based in London. She's the founder of TinglyMind.com - an online publication dedicated to the unfiltered experiences of being human in modern society. She also writes fiction on her personal website.