你在家中是老大還是老幺?這對職業道路有影響

For many years, studies have shown that birth order affects personality, but new research confirms that whether you’re an older, middle or younger child bears an impact on career path too.

多年研究顯示，出生順序影響性格，但最新研究得出結論稱，出生順序還對職業道路有影響。

Led by psychologist Emma Kenny, the researchers found significant evidence to support the theory that birth order has a tangible and marked effect on career paths.

研究人員發現了能夠支持出生順序對職業道路有實質且明顯的影響這一理論的重要證據。研究小組負責人由心理學家艾瑪-肯尼擔任。

In order to reach their conclusions, a team of statisticians analysed a random sample of over 500 of the most successful individuals from 11 different career groups to identify statistically significant patterns.

爲得出這一結論，一組統計學家分析了超過500位最成功人士的隨機樣本，以確定具有統計意義的模型。這些人士來自11種不同的職業羣體。

One of the most clear findings was that middle children are 30 percent more likely to become company CEOs than their siblings.

最明顯的發現之一是，出生順序位於中間的子女成爲公司首席執行官的概率比兄弟姐妹高出30%。

The researchers suggested that this could be because having to fight for attention results in middle children developing personality traits such as competitiveness, flexibility and diplomacy, which then makes them suited to high-flying roles which require tactful thinking and high levels of management.

研究人員表示，這可能是因爲他們需要博取關注，這導致他們發展出競爭性、靈活性和善於交際的性格特徵。這也使其更適合成爲具有雄心壯志的領導角色，擔任這種角色需要機智的思考和較高的管理水平。

Mark Zuckerberg, Lord Alan Sugar and Bill Gates are all middle children.

馬克-扎克伯格、艾倫-休格爵士和比爾-蓋茨出生順序都位於中間。

In encouraging news for middle children across the world, the study also found that they’re 41 percent more likely to be Olympic athletes.

對全球出生順序位於中間的子女來說還有個好消息，研究人員還發現，他們成爲奧運會冠軍的概率也要高出41%。

“The research conducted over the last month has shown that birth order is a significant factor in determining employment role types between siblings - overall there are far more typical cases than exceptions,” Kenny explains.

肯尼解釋說：“上月開展的這項研究顯示，出生順序對於子女不同的職業角色類型有重要影響，總體來看較爲典型的案例遠超一些例外。”

Interestingly, the researchers found that the majority of astronauts are first-born children - Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong are prime examples.

有趣的是，研究人員發現大多數航天員都是家中最年長的子女，最著名的例子要數巴茲-奧爾德林和尼爾-阿姆斯特朗。

Eldest children are also most likely to become scientists or engineers like Stephen Hawking and Tim Berners Lee.

年長的子女還更可能成爲科學家和工程師，比如史蒂芬-霍金和蒂姆-伯納斯-李。

Youngest children like Johann Sebastian Bach and Mozart were found to be 50 percent more likely to have careers in classical music, possibly for their “sensitive and idealistic personality traits,” the researchers suggest.

家中最年幼的子女從事古典音樂相關職業的可能性要高出50%，比如約翰-塞巴斯蒂安-巴赫和莫扎特，這可能是因爲他們“性格敏感，理想主義”。

As for only children, the study suggests they’re more likely to become artists due to their “perfectionist and mature personality traits.”

研究結果稱，獨生子女更可能成爲藝術家，因爲他們“是完美主義者，性格成熟”。

The average UK family has 2.44 children, but the researchers found that family size does play a part - scientists were found to come from much larger families than average.

平均每個英國家庭有2.44名子女，但研究人員發現家庭規模的大小確實有影響，科學家更多地來自大家庭，而不是規模一般的家庭。