Why Middle Children Are Better At Innovation And Have Happier Relationships
Middle children often get a bad reputation. They’re resentful, jealous of their more successful (or cuter), siblings and thought of as the family outsiders. But everything you think you know about this less-favored birth order is probably wrong. Middle children tend to be happier in relationships, have a larger group of friends and innovate more at work, according to Dr. Catherine Salmon, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Redlands and author of "The Secret Power of Middle Children." As middle children do, in fact, receive less attention, they also benefit from having more space and freedom, which helps them develop some pretty important attributes. We talked to Salmon about the three ways that we can all benefit by being more like middle children.
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Take More Risks
Of course, gambling doesn’t always fare well, but taking risks can have huge rewards. Bill Gates, President Abraham Lincoln and Jennifer Lopez are all successful middle children known for being innovators - and risk takers. One study indicates that middle children are 50 percent more likely to support radical ideas, and half of the United States presidents have been middle children, including current President Donald Trump.
“They’re more open to the possibility of new knowledge, new ways of thinking about things, new ways of approaching things,” says Salmon. “That is a powerful thing for change.”
While there is no one career path middle children flock to, the expert says they often take an outside the box approach in any situation.
Learn To Negotiate
“All the negotiation skills they learn in the home to get what they need when there are other siblings that may be louder or smaller and cuter or whatever, those negotiation skills are helpful in relationships too,” says Salmon. Because of this, the professor explains that middles tend to be good leaders, business people, friends and romantic partners. Middle children are able to meet the needs of others while still satisfying their own desires - an important skill that’s not always so easy to hone. “You don’t want to screw the other person over all the time because eventually they’re not going to work with you,” she says.
Trump is a contentious topic now, but Salmon uses him as an example of someone who’s used good negotiation skills outside of politics. “In his non-presidential life, many of the people he did business with were his friends,” she explains. “He was a good negotiator in that he largely didn’t screw over his partners.” Though she admits it’s become increasingly more difficult to pinpoint the president’s true personality these days.
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Deflate Your Ego
“Middle borns know it’s never all about them,” says Salmon. Because this birth order received less pressure from parents (first borns are the ones burdened with being perfect), attention and praise, their self esteems are likely more accurate. The professor believes most people have inflated egos, which doesn’t always bode well for setting expectations in life. “You might have thought you were the best thing ever when you’re younger because that’s what everybody told you and that’s the feedback you got,” she asserts. “But that’s not realistic feedback. It almost sets you up for a fall. It sets you up to be confronted with the harsh reality that you may not be well prepared to meet.”
Instead, it’s important to remember that when things go wrong, it’s not always your fault (and it’s not always because of your genius intellect when things go right, either).
“There’s a combination of factors that influence these things,” reasons Salmon. “I think that’s useful in terms of understanding what’s going on around you and really appreciating what goes into your successes but also your failures.”
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