A NEW study has found that the eldest child is officially the most intelligent
and each successive sibling is slightly less bright.
Researchers in Germany have found that first born children are more likely to
be smarter than their younger siblings.
Although they aren’t sure exactly why, it’s thought to be because they had
more undivided attention from their parents.
It is also possible that older siblings get a boost in intelligence from
helping teach and educate their little brothers and sisters about the ways
of the world.
The Leipzig University researchers analysed data from results of IQ and
personality tests in three national studies of over 20,000 people, including
those from the UK.
The analysis showed a clear drop in IQ and perception of their own
intelligence with each younger sibling.
However, there weren’t any differences in personality behaviour, despite
previous studies finding that birth order affects character traits.
Researcher Julia Rohrer says while she didn’t test why the first child was
brainier; it’s likely to be because of their upbringing.
Dr Rohrer told the Mail online: “One theory is that following children
“dilute” the resources of their parents.
“While the firstborn gets full parental attention, at least for some
months or years, late-borns will have to share from the beginning.
“Another possible factor is described by the tutoring hypothesis: A
firstborn can “tutor” their younger siblings, explaining to them how the
world works and so on.”
However, this doesn’t mean that second born children are doomed to be less
intelligent.
According to Dr Rohrer’s calculations, in a two-child family, the eldest will
only have a higher IQ six out of 10 times.
Biology also plays a factor; younger children are more prone to genetic
problems because their parents have conceived them when they were older.
But, for second born children who are brought up as first born children after
an infant death, their intelligence is on par with other first borns, so
biology is less important than upbringing.