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The Oldest Child Is Smarter…So Says the Research
For nearly a century, child development experts have pondered just how much parents matter in how their kids turn out. This week, fresh new research hit the AP wires and the “nature vs. nurture” debate may finally be put to rest. The findings are profound: Firstborn sons have higher IQs than their younger brothers because of how they are raised. Wow! It seems they finally figured out that parents do make a difference after all!! This morning I talked about the study on Today, and here are some of the most interesting results, and how you can use them with your own children.
(Check out the video from the Today show!)
The study came from Norway lead by a psychologist, Petter Kristensen. Over the past decade Kristensen and a group of researchers meticulously analyzed IQ scores of 250,000 men. All the men took the IQ test when they were 18 or 19 years old and were required to do it as draftees entering the Norwegian army. The results found that the oldest child is smarter than the next oldest sibling by an average of 2.3 points, who in turn beat the third-born brother by 1.1 points. If the eldest child dies, the second sibling becomes the smartest one. That means it’s not just the birth order that’s boosting those IQ points, but the dynamics in the family and how the first born kid is treated. By the way, though no women were involved in the study, the researchers contend that the same results would happen for women.
While 2.3 points may seem measly, in today’s test-crazed society they can be just enough to give a child an academic edge. Those two points could be the difference between earning the grade of a B+ or an A; going to a state school or a university; or entry into a special educational program. Many schools these days require IQ tests and a score of 132 in order for a child to get into their gifted programs. A two-point lower score could mean the cut-off to entry.
So the real question is: How are we parenting our eldest children differently that’s giving them those added IQ points? That’s the best part. The parenting strategies are simple and doable. Here are four take-away tips from this important Norwegian study that you can use with your children.
1. Talk to your child. (And talk and talk and talk). One of the strongest correlations to IQ is a strong verbal ability. The best way to nurture your child’s verbal skills is by just plain talking and talking and talking to them. Researchers say we do that far more with the first child.
2. Focus on your child. Researchers contend that eldest children generally have higher self-esteem. They have stronger confidence and some of that is because they spend more uninterrupted time with us. There isn’t another sibling to compete with.
3. Treat your child as capable. We give our elder kids more responsibilities, and we just plain expect more of them at a younger age. How you are treated does become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Almost all American presidents and the first astronauts were the first born. First born kids are more likely to be leaders.
4. Let your child tutor his younger sibling. The eldest child has another benefit: he has a younger sibling to help. (“Will you show your sister how to turn on the computer?” “Can you help your brother with his reading?”) Teaching someone a skill not only helps the tutored but also helps the tutor. In fact, in many cases, the oldest child gains the most (IQ-wise anyway) from teaching his younger brother.
The bottom line in all this is that parents are their children’s best IQ boosters. So put down those flash cards and unplug those brainy baby tapes. You do make a difference in how your child turns out.
Now if we could just figure out a way to redefine success so we don’t get so crazed thinking it’s all about IQ. In the real world, research shows that IQ doesn’t make much of a difference in achieving success. What does matter: perseverance, confidence and goal-setting.
But what do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on birth order and your kids!
Michele's latest book is 12 Simple Secrets Real Moms Know: Getting Back to Basics and Raising Happy Kids.
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If intelligence is measured by IQ, then the real world around us would be a less eventful place.
Just love a study set up by men to study men who then decide that the results would be the same for women!
Sorry. The youngest is the smartest. They've had the advantage of learning from older siblings and had one-on-one time when the older ones have gone off to school.
It's so ironic because as i was reading your article my ex mother-inlaw called complaining about how when she has all of her grandchildren over the siblings fight constantly and she's decided to let the cousins who are about the same age do one thing and the others something entirely different. My 2 dd's were her first. My oldest turned 14 in Dec. & my baby will be 13 in 2 weeks. As as academics & IQ tests my 14 yr old definetly surpasses my youngest. On the other hand, my youngest one is an incredible athlete and seems to have more common sense than my 14 yr old. They are both very bright and incredible girls but w/ totally different personalities & interest. Keaton is in all of the honors programs but on the other hand Anna is just as talented but in other areas. Keaton is also a cheerleader but she can't compare to Anna in any sport. She already has more awards & trophies from sports than I have room for. So, I'am afraid as a very hands on mom i disagree w/ the fact an IQ test only decides their success.
While IQ does not determine success in life, it makes me very happy to know, as an oldest child, that I am smarter hehehehe. [going to blindly ignore the fact that we are both girls, and just accept the findings, cos we all need SOMETHING to hang onto eh? :) hehehe]
I think this whole study is garbage. It's just another way to inflate the egos of eldest children. I'm a complete middle child, and it is my belief that no one works harder in a family than the middle child. My parents constantly measure me up against my brother, and academically, I always win. However, he's got more money, which in my parents' eyes means he's more successful! I think that, given love and attention, any child can blossom into someone intelligent, caring, and responsible. It's because of parents taking favorites that kids end up messed up.
So not true!! Youngest is the smartest in my family.
Yah know, it doesn't really matter, does it? Which makes the biggest difference; whether the kid was born first, second or last, or the decisions the parents made with the first child and knew differently with the second and then the third and so forth. It doesn't matter as much as family placement as does parenting and chilchood situations. The harder the situation the more the children are forced to learn...ever wonder why abused children are some of the smartest kids around? (brain damage not with-standing)
I dunno. Food for thought, right?
All the comments criticising this research makes me sick. I'm a researcher at a university and I guess only researchers can appreciate what other researchers are trying to do. This research is not about which child is smarter. It's about the correlation between the way parents raise them and their IQs. They way the parents raise their children is influenced by the birth order, which is fair and natural.
Nowhere in the article does it say that just because a person has a high IQ, does it mean that they are going to be more successful in life. This research doesn't even talk about life success. I think all of you who are grumbling need to take a time out and not put in your own interpretation of the findings. That's not what research is about.
This is good research, which has made significant contribution to knowledge.
Love how men do studies on men and then say the results would be the same in women. Obviously the researchers have never read "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus", LOL. Also obviously, they've never studied the MEDICAL literature....it's been shown that while aspirin does help stave off heart attacks in men, it has less of an effect in that respect in women; in women, aspirin helps to stave off strokes instead.
Anyway, I have three kids, the girls are older (20 months apart) and the youngest is a boy (3 and 5 years younger than his sisters.) All three test well on intelligence tests, with the exception that middle dd has a severe math learning disability and scores abysmally in that subject and that subject alone. I have to say, therefore, that I think being the oldest doesn't affect intelligence providing that parents are equitable and shower attention, love, and time on EACH individual child, and that the parents make a CONSCIOUS effort to not "play favorites."
Smarts and achievement for any kid can also be linked back to how involved a parent is with their child and his/her education. For the older, there may be more focused time at a very young age, whereas the younger kids get more focused one-on-one time when they are home and the others are at school. Regardless of where they fall in birth order, parents should consider ways to help all their kids reach their potential by getting involved at school. Check out some other good reasons here at a new back to school website: http://www.back2school2007.com/articles/make-difference/5-reasons-to-get-involved.html
There is also a study that was published sometime back that there is no coorelation between IQ and how much money someone makes or IQ and how happy someone is!!! Hence, IQ is not the final answer in determining success. The buzz today is on EQ=Emotional Quotient..
I am the oldest of 6 children and I did the best in school work. I think I did have a higher IQ than my siblings. I did help them with their homework. I have two daughters of my own both are very smart. I am not sure yet who is the smartest but it is close.
I wish it was true for my case.
In my family, it's nearly the opposite. While I'm the oldest and have a "gifted" IQ of 135, the second born (boy) has a higher one, the third born (girl) is even higher and the youngest (boy) is considered "genius" level. So, take this study with a grain of salt.
I think that the theories on why this might be the cause are very plausible..
I agree with Maria!!
I am one of ten kids - Dad and Mother both incredibly bright. 7 girls - 3 boys - there are no books around on birth order IQ on this number of kids. But can I say - typical of men to do the research on men and then blithely apply it to both genders. I wonder what Prof. Leonard Sax would say about this one.
In our family - youngest of 10 is a boy and is by far the brightest - but a couple of girls in the middle are also outstandingly academically brilliant. I don't buy this guy's position.
Maybe I'm an exception, but I'm the middle child of five and the smartest. I was the first in the family to get full scholarship to college, only one to get a degree (post-graduate). I have a wonderful relationship with my oldest brother - who was in Special education and my sister who is 2 years older than me (we graduated the same year because I skipped a grade and she flunked a grade.) My younger brother has a GED, and younger sister struggled and didn't like school. Perhaps most oldest children are/feel more responsible, but that's not necessarily "smarter."
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My sister who is the fourth out of five is the smartest, and I who am the last of five the most successful. My eldest sister, while sweet, did very poorly in her entire school career as did the next two.
I disagree that older siblings are smarter. I am an older sib and while i would LIKE to believe that i am so much smarter than my sister, she and i are very smart. we both have strengths and weaknesses but i think the most important part of intelligence is where you receive it from. My parents always encouraged reading and writing for us. As for younger siblings having more one on one time, i think that's a little broad. When you have your first child you can condition it and help it learn, without the distraction of other children. On the other hand, schools are incorporating more math, writing, and foreign language to help younger students broaden their horizons.
I am female and 5 years older than my brother. There has never really been any question that I am the smartest. I think in our case it was split 50/50 between nature and nurture. That is, I think that regardless of my parents’ techniques in raising us, I would still be the smartest, but the amount of the difference was due very much to their parenting style.
Expectations were always held very high for me. Failure was never really considered an option. I was also expected to help out a lot with raising my brother and had to be the "responsible" one. My brother, on the other hand, was doted upon his entire childhood (and now well into adulthood). My parents never put as many demands on him as they did on me, whether it was his school studies, completing chores, or simply behaving in a civilized manner. Unfortunately, the end result has been that while he is able to figure things out (mostly) when he really needs to, he has a lot of problems on a day to day basis when it comes to basic living skills. They left him woefully unprepared to take care of himself, and as a result he dropped out of school at 16 and is still living with them at age 25. I don't know why they changed their parenting style so much between me and him, but I think they did a terrible disservice to him when they did.