Research published in the Journal of Human Resources found that firstborn children outperform their younger siblings on cognitive tests starting from infancy — they are better set up for academic and intellectual success thanks to the type of parenting they experience.
The University of Edinburgh study reported that the oldest child tends to have a higher IQ and thinking skills than their younger siblings. This is due to higher mental stimulation the first-born receives, CBS affiliate KUTV reports.
You've probably heard it before and brushed it off if you're a second, third or fourth+ child - but it's true: the eldest sibling is the smartest, according to research. And there's not just one reason for it. Apparently, there are a few.
First-borns aren't just healthier or smarter, but also they score higher on “emotional stability, persistence, social outgoingness, willingness to assume responsibility and ability to take initiative.” The researchers ruled out genetic factors; in fact, they uncovered evidence that later-born children might be ...
Now a new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and based on data from 20,000 individuals, concludes that birth order does matter when it comes to IQ – with the oldest having slightly higher IQ than their younger siblings.
First borns score higher than their siblings in IQ tests as early as age one, the study has found. Although all children received the same levels of emotional support, first-born children received more support with tasks that developed thinking skills.
Research published in the Journal of Human Resources found that firstborn children outperform their younger siblings on cognitive tests starting from infancy — they are better set up for academic and intellectual success thanks to the type of parenting they experience.
What is “Eldest Daughter Syndrome”? It's only a recently uncovered dynamic, but Dara Winley, Ph. D., LFMT, a family and couples therapist, writes that “eldest daughters experience the most pressure as their parents are trying to figure out parenting through trial and error for the first time.”
But a statistical study of centenarians by researchers at the University of Chicago has found some other potential predictors of extreme longevity. Women and men who were the first born in large families, the study found, were two to three times more likely to make it to 100 than later-born children.
In concluding the study, co-author and psychologist at the University of Padova in Italy Paola Bressan noted that to the best of her knowledge, “no study has either replicated or supported” the findings from the 1995 study that stated babies resemble their fathers.
According to Adler, the first born is more susceptible to depression because of high expectations of parents and suddenly losing the attention due to another sibling being born.
The survey concluded that parents tend to favour their youngest child over the elder. More than half of the parents quizzed said they preferred their youngest child, while only 26 per cent said that their favourite child was their eldest.
For example, raw speed in processing information appears to peak around age 18 or 19, then immediately starts to decline. Meanwhile, short-term memory continues to improve until around age 25, when it levels off and then begins to drop around age 35.
First-born kids tend to be leaders, like CEOS and founders, and are more likely to achieve traditional success. Middle-born children often embody a mix of the traits of older and younger siblings, and they're very relationship-focused.
An 11-year-old boy, Yusuf Shah outperformed geniuses Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking by receiving the highest score imaginable in a Mensa test. He scored 162 marks in the IQ test while the two legends are estimated to have had IQs of around 160, as per a report in the Yorkshire Evening Post.
— Moms won't admit to it. Families rarely talk about this, but research shows that many parents do, in fact, have a favorite and least favorite child. And more often than not, their kids are wrong about who is who.
December 25 (Christmas Day) is the least common birthday, while January 1 (New Year's Day) is the second least common. December 24 (Christmas Eve) also makes the list as the 3rd least common birthday while July 4 (Independence Day) is the 4th least common birthday.
Those born in September are, apparently, the smartest out of the entire year. According to Marie Claire, a study published in the National Bureau of Economic Research found that there's a clear correlation between the month during which you were born and how smart you are.
A study done in the U.K. showed that May is the luckiest month to be born, and October is the unluckiest. It could have something to do with that optimism, since positive attitudes have been associated with greater resilience.
“Firstborn children can be goal-oriented, outspoken, stubborn, independent, and perfectionistic,” Smelser says, and when you look at the way firstborns are nurtured, it starts to make sense why. “These traits are often reinforced by parents through their interactions with the child,” she says.
If you are a firstborn...
According to the study, the best possible match is a firstborn female with a lastborn male, because their needs are in harmony with each other. A firstborn with another firstborn, Leman writes, is likely to be a power struggle.
The struggles of the eldest daughter
A psychotherapist explained that eldest daughters carry so much burden because it is a behavior learnt at a very young age (Morris, 2022). They spent such a little time being children, but they soon had to adapt into an older figure by the time they have younger siblings.
According to a survey conducted by British pollster YouGov, youngest siblings are most likely to believe that they are the funniest members of their families. Forty-six percent of younger siblings answered that they think they are the funniest versus just 36 percent of oldest siblings.
However, one of the signs of an intelligent baby is that they often prefer to be alone. You'll notice them very happily playing on their own. Or they might actually prefer the company of older kids rather than that of their peers, for slightly more advanced emotional and intellectual stimulation.
Researchers have previously shown that a person's IQ is highly influenced by genetic factors, and have even identified certain genes that play a role. They've also shown that performance in school has genetic factors. But it's been unclear whether the same genes that influence IQ also influence grades and test scores.