Ronald and Lois married for two decades considered themselves a happy couple. (22)But in the early years of their marriage both were distilled by persistent arguments that seem to fade away without ever being truly resolved. They uncovered clues to what was going wrong by researching a fascinating subject. How birth order affects not only your personality but also how compatible you are with your mate. (23)Ronald and Lois are only children and onlies grow up accustomed to being the apple of parents’ eyes. Match two onlies and you have partners to sub consciously expect each other to continue fulfilling this expectation while neither has much experience in the giving and here's a list of common birth order characteristics and some thoughts on the best and worst Marischal matches for each. (24)The oldest tends to be self-assured, responsible, a high achiever and relatively seriously reserved. He may be slow to make friends. Perhaps content with only one companion. The best matches are with a youngest and only or a mate raised in a large family. The worst match is with another oldest since the two will be too sovereign to share a household comfortably. The youngest child of the family thrives on the tension and tends to be outgoing, adventurous, optimistic, creative and less ambitious than others in the family. He may lack self-discipline and have difficulty making decisions on his own. A youngest brother of brothers often unpredictable and romantic will match best with an oldest sister of brothers. The youngest sister of brothers is best matched with the oldest brother of sisters who will happily indulge these traits. The middle child is influenced by many variables however middles are less likely to take initiative and more anxious and self-critical than others. Middles often successfully marry other middles. Since both are strong on tact not so strong on the aggressiveness and tend to crave affection. (25)The only child is often most comfortable when alone. But since an only tends to be a well-adjusted individual she'll eventually learn to relate to any chosen spouse. The male only child expects his wife to make life easier without getting much in return. He is sometimes best matched with the younger sister of brothers. The female only child who tends to be slightly more flexible is well matched with an older man who will indulge her tendency to test his love—her worst much. Another only of course.