'Middle child syndrome' is a myth. Here are 10 things you never knew about middle children.

The stereotypical middle child is resentful because they don't receive as much attention from their parents as the oldest and youngest children in their family. While they may feel somewhat excluded in their family dynamic, they don't usually stay bitter about it.

"Calling what middle children experience growing up 'a syndrome' is a bit of a misnomer," Katrin Schumann, co-author of "The Secret Power of Middle Children," previously told Insider. "While middles do tend to feel overlooked and undervalued, they often grow out of this as they mature and the dynamics within the family shift."

According to a 1998 study by Dr. Catherine Salmon, a psychology professor at the University of Redlands in California and co-author of the book "The Secret Power of Middle Children," oldest and youngest children said they would turn to their parents if they needed help, whereas middle children chose siblings as their go-to people. This is likely because they spent less time with their parents growing up.

Salmon told Business Insider that middle children also tend to think of friends as their main resources, making them loyal friends to have.

Growing up, middle children learned by watching others. While older and younger siblings were more frequently the focus of their parents' attention, middle-borns figured things out on their own and gained a strong independent streak.

"I actually think there may be an advantage being the one who is not as overly supervised, because I do think that the sort of excessive parenting that you see sometimes prevents children from developing that independence that they really need to function on their own," Salmon previously told Business Insider.

Dr. Gail Gross PhD, EdD, wrote in The Huffington Post in 2014 that middle children are often cooperative and understanding, but also concerned with fairness. They also have to share everything with at least one other person from birth. These traits translate into being excellent at negotiating.

Because middle children tend to have been conditioned as peacemakers, they become skilled at reading people and knowing what makes them tick. This can set them up for success in the workforce.

As Patty Stonesifer, founding CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and former chief executive of Martha's Table, told The New York Times in 2015 about being the sixth of nine children: "Being in the middle taught me to use my voice. I was a talkative child, I had a lot to say, and I knew how to get my points across at an early age because there were a lot of people with a lot to say at the table."

Stonesifer also illustrated another tenet of being a middle child: thriving on diversity.

"The thing about growing up at a big dinner table is that people are going to disagree and people are going to have points of view, and for me, that was very comfortable," Stonesifer told The New York Times. "I'm really comfortable with a fair amount of conflict and disagreement. As long as people are nice and not mean about it, those conflicts can be really productive."

Katrin Schumann told Psychology Today that a study she conducted for her 2011 book, "The Secret Power of Middle Children," showed that middle-borns are more open-minded and adventurous when it comes to sex, and they are more satisfied in monogamous relationships than first- and last-borns.

In his book "The New Birth Order Book: Why You Are the Way You Are," psychologist Kevin Leman writes that middle-borns are best coupled with last-borns. Middle children tend to be nonconfrontational and more closed off, whereas youngest children are more outgoing and can help them open up.

Skills such as compromise, the ability to read people, and comfort with conflict serve middle children well in the oval office: 23 of the 46 presidents have been middle children.

Famous middle-born presidents include Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and John F. Kennedy.

Famous middle children include Bill Gates, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, and Princess Diana.

"People see only the negatives and overlook the significant positives for middles, such as the fact that they develop great negotiation skills, empathy, and flexibility, and are often innovative out-of-the-box thinkers," Schumann said.

"When they realize how many useful skills they've developed as a result of being in the middle, they are empowered in ways that positively influence their lives."