Study Proves This Sibling Has The Best Personality
These kids are honest, humble and kind — through and through.
PeopleImages.com - Yuri A | Shutterstock A surprising new study — or unsurprising, depending on who you are — suggests that the middle child takes the cake when it comes to certain personality traits.
There's no denying that birth order impacts personality and it's long been believed that those middle kids kind of get lost in the shuffle between the eldest and babies of the bunch. A recent study published in the journal Psychological and Cognitive Sciences found that the middle child is much more "honest, humble, and agreeable" compared to their siblings.
A new study proves that middle children have the best personalities of all siblings.
The study used the HEXACO Personality Inventory to assess 6 personality traits based on sibling birth order: honesty-humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience.
Middle children are more honest, humble, and agreeable.
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According to the HEXACO Personality Inventory, agreeableness, as a personality trait, is reflected in people who "forgive the wrongs that they suffered, are lenient in judging others, are willing to compromise and cooperate with others, and can easily control their temper." Whereas anyone with a high score on the Honesty-Humility scale "avoids manipulating others for personal gain, feels little temptation to break rules, is uninterested in lavish wealth and luxuries, and feels no special entitlement to elevated social status."
Basically, middle kids are kind, forgiving, level-headed, humble, and empathetic. They are literally the best of all the siblings!
How does birth order impact personality?
Michael Ashton and Kibeom Lee, the authors of the study, suggest that middle children scoring higher in these traits might be the result of their position in the family. They aren't the firstborn who often gets more attention, and they receive the same leniency as the youngest, who enjoys having more privileges. The middle is forced to compromise and cooperate. They are, by nature, required to be more agreeable, diplomatic, and flexible.
On the other hand, the study also found that only children tend to score lower in these traits. This may be a result of only children not having the same opportunity to practice collaboration the way that children in bigger families do. This causes them to have personality traits that coincide more with individualism over cooperation.
It's important to remember that every family and child is different, and that means birth order is not a playbook for anyone's personality.
While the findings are intriguing and maybe unbelievable to some, it's important to take note that the debate between birth order and personality will not be settled anytime soon. Other studies have also questioned the notion that birth order directly shapes who we are.
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Research done back in 2019 looking at birth order and personality traits found such minimal differences between siblings that they determined birth order did not play a role at all. These conflicting results show that birth order may not be the deciding factor in determining personality. Other elements may play a bigger role, such as culture, life experience, and parenting style. Even the age gap between siblings can impact the results, making it hard to find a baseline to study.
While the idea that middle children have the best personalities might hold some merit based on this study, it's certainly not definitive. Regardless of whether you have siblings or navigate through life as an only child, the uniqueness of your personality goes beyond the birthing lineup. The most important thing to remember is that every child is unique and amazing in their own right, and even those babies who tend to be spoiled rotten have their redeeming qualities, too!