At least as big a determinant as gender on the role in which your parents cast you in the family drama is your place in the family, known as birth order. Although there are many exceptions to the following rules, firstborn children are more likely to be self-assured, assertive, competitive and dominant compared with lastborns. Firstborns are exceptionally common among leaders, such as prime ministers and presidents. They are more liable to be conscientious, to endorse conventional morality, to identify with their parents’ values and to be obedient to parental authority. They achieve more in
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