Are you older and wiser than your brother or sister - or younger and more rebellious? There has long been a fascination with how our position amongst siblings affects character traits, but new research has revealed that these stereotypes do not stand up to scrutiny. However, there may be other reasons to be envious of your sibling’s birth position.

你比弟弟或妹妹聪明，比哥哥或姊姊反叛？总是有迷思认为，我们在手足间的排行影响个性，但新研究显示，这些刻板印象禁不起检验。不过，或许还有其他理由，让你羡慕兄弟姊妹的排行。

In a new study from the University of Leipzig, researchers examined how neurotic, extraverted, conscientious, open and agreeable 20,000 people were from the UK, US and Germany - and concluded that personality is not affected by whether you were born first, last or in between.

莱比锡大学的新研究中，研究人员检视2万名来自英国、美国与德国的人，有多神经质、外放、一丝不茍、开放和令人愉悦，得出结论说个性并不受到你是老大、老幺或是排行居中所影响。

But science is increasingly showing that your birth order can affect who you are in different ways - older siblings are smarter on average, while the youngest are healthier.

但科学渐渐显示，你在手足间的排行，会以不同方式影响你是谁——一般而言，排行较上面的比较聪明，老幺比较健康。

In the Leipzig study a small difference in intelligence was found - firstborns tended to be slightly more intelligent than their younger siblings, who are in turn slightly more intelligent than their younger siblings.

莱比锡大学这份研究中，发现智力有些许差别，最先出生的会比弟弟妹妹聪明一点点，而他们又会比更小的弟妹聪明一些。

新闻辞典

envious：形容词，羡慕的，嫉妒的。例句：I’m very envious of your new coat - it’s lovely.（我真羡慕你的新外套，好漂亮。）

neurotic：形容词，神经过敏的，神经质的。例句：She’s neurotic about her weight - she weighs herself three times a day.（她对体重很在意——每天要量3次。）

conscientious：形容词，一丝不茍的。例句：a conscientious student 认真的学生。