Case study: Christabelle Pratt: Has always been competitive

FIVE-YEAR-OLD Christabelle Pratt runs up the stairs every night to beat her three siblings to bathtime. Not because she is "being good", but because she has been highly competitive all her life.

Her mother, Fiona Pratt, who runs Bibi's Bakery in Edinburgh and St Andrews, said: "Christabelle is very confident and outspoken and gets upset if she doesn't win.

"If she had taken part in any research offering children a reward she'd want more money than they were offering. She goes horse riding and is already cantering while no-one else is doing that.

"I can't remember her not being competitive. She has to win and the winning doesn't even have to be linked to a reward," said Mrs Pratt from Elie, Fife.

"But I think birth order plays a part. Christabelle is a number three child and, in my experience, number three children have to fight for themselves and make themselves heard. Children also have their own personality and Christabelle was born the way she is."

Mrs Pratt said that Christabelle's older brother Digby, eight, takes a more measured approach to competing.

"He is very laid back, and while he is competitive it is not in the same way as Christabelle. He asks himself: 'Is there something in it for me?', and competes on his own terms. It has to be for something he wants, not just for the sake of it.

"He is also conscious of the feelings of others and will downplay an achievement so as not to make someone else feel bad."