A new study has revealed that firstborn children are more likely to be ambitious and well-qualified.
Researchers have claimed that Angela Merkel, Hillary Clinton, Christine Lagarde, Oprah Winfrey, Sheryl Sandberg, JK Rowling and Beyonce were all firstborn children and world's most powerful women according to Forbes are also all firstborn children in their families, the Guardian reported.
According to the study done by researchers at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, if a child is the eldest female, then she is more likely to be the most ambitious and well-qualified of all her family, while firstborn boys were next in line for success.
The study has also revealed that parents are more likely to have high achieving kids, if they leave a gap of at least four years between each child, as the wider the gap, the greater the chances of higher qualifications.
The researchers have revealed that firstborn children were 7 percent more likely to aspire to stay on in education than younger siblings, while firstborn girls were 13 percent more ambitious than firstborn boys.
It was also found that the probability of attending further education for firstborns is 16 percent higher than their younger siblings and girls are 4 percent more likely to have further education qualifications.
Feifei Bu said that there are several possible explanations for the higher attainment and ambition of the eldest, and one of the reasons could be that parents simply devote more time and energy to them or because they are actually more intelligent.