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Life

03rd Mar 2017

Apparently, your birth order impacts your love life

If science says so...

Amanda Cassidy

Your birth order plays a bigger role in your life than you think.

Your position in your family influences how you give and receive love, how you interact in relationships and even impacts how much risk you are prepared to take for your partner.

Scientists have studied how personality and birth order are linked. Early experiences lay down the foundation of how we act right through into our love lives – and the results are very interesting:

Linda Blair is a psychologist and author of Birth Order: What Your Position In The Family Tells About Your Character:

“Oldest children tend to be intelligent and responsible high-achievers. When they grow up and fall in love, these positive traits usually serve them well – they’re organised and responsible, nurturing and good at caring for others. In a relationship, you can depend on first borns to push themselves hard and be self-critical”.

But first-borns can also be perfectionists and want ultimate control, which can pose problems in an equal partnership.

Are you a middle child? You are typically a natural-born peacemaker and are very good at compromise in relationships. Linda says that adaptability and negotiation are among your best traits and this often makes for strong communication.

And if you happen to be the baby of your family, Linda says your playfulness and spontaneity will help you retain the fun in your love life.

However, sometimes youngest children can be infuriating for first-born partners just because they’re masters and mistresses of charm:

“They can take quite a bit of looking after. On the bright side, youngest children are more likely to loosen up a serious-natured first-born child”.