The Oldest Child Is Smarter and Here's Why

A new study out shows that when it comes to intelligence, the oldest child has the upper hand. Laci Green explains what led researchers to this conclusion, and if younger siblings are really doomed to a life of mediocrity.

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How Your Birth Order Can Influence Who You Are
"As many parents can attest, siblings tend to be more different than alike. Some of this may be the result of our birth order, and how we're subsequently raised. What's more, birth order may influence our health and sexuality too. Here's what you need to know about how your birth rank affects your life."

Birth Order and Personality
"'The one thing you can bet your paycheck on is the firstborn and second-born in any given family are going to be different,' says Dr. Kevin Leman, a psychologist who has studied birth order since 1967 and author of The Birth Order Book: Why You Are the Way You Are (Revell)."

Born In Between
"They are considered to be neglected, resentful, have no drive, have a negative outlook, feel like they don't belong-in other words, they suffer from "Middle Child Syndrome." A Stanford University study showed that middles are considered the most envious, least bold and least talkative of all the birth orders."

STRATEGIC PARENTING, BIRTH ORDER AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE
"Fueled by new evidence, there has been renewed interest about the effects of birth order on human capital accumulation. The underlying causal mechanisms for such effects remain unsettled."

First Children Do Better In School: Parents 'Play Tough' With Oldest To Set Example For Younger Siblings
"Theories of birth order - hypotheses that character traits are based on where an individual falls within the lineup of siblings - have been around at least since Alfred Adler first proposed his ideas back in 1908."

Watch More:

Does Birth Order Matter?

TestTube Wild Card:

Sibling Bullies

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[CountArtha]

So basically, parents bring their A-game to raising the first kid and then get lazier and lazier.

Sounds about right.

[MSDarkspyro]

So the first born is basically a test subject

[readingthroughhistor]

The youngest is more often than not the better athlete.  Competing against older siblings usually creates an intense competitive drive.   

[elliex]

I'm then oldest and trust me, this doesn't sound like me... I'm literally dumb af

[brizzylopez]

I'm the youngest and it's the exact opposite of what she said...

[bennytroung]

Does the oldest tend to get beat more too?

[json]

I'm an only child and this intrigues me

[furrzywolf]

I'm the oldest and I completely agree, my parents are pretty strict, for example I wasn't allowed to have soda until I was 9 and my youngest sibling can have soda and they're 6

[aprilblenk]

As the oldest child,
I'm dumb as shit.

[NetherNinja]

lol my oldest brother gets through all years of middle school without a single says he isn't smart

[whynothaveagoodlaugh]

I hate being the oldest and I HATE the middle kid. I think being the middle kid has so many advantages. However, I think the youngest are the smartest.

[shroomgaming]

this is bassicaly a huge middle finger to the youngest cuz thats how i see it

[meganld]

My mom is sexist. She wanted a boy. I'm the oldest (female), and then there's my little sister, and after her is my little brother. He can basically do whatever he wants in her eyes, not only because he's the youngest, but also because he's a boy. Thankfully, I've made my father aware of that and he's more strict towards him than my mom is sometimes.

[riceoobxg]

I'm the youngest but I was valedictorian, top of my class every year, full scholarship, NY Times spelling bee champ, excel in science, dinner with politicians, everything you can name, 4.0 GPA in college. However, I'm rebellious and I question authority. My sister, who is 12 years older than I, is a conformist, obeys authority, works hard, but I cannot communicate with her on an intellectual level. Thus, we haven't spoken in a decade.
But I do see your point. My significant other is the responsible and hard working one of her family and she's the oldest. Her younger siblings are all spoiled brats that play video games all day and satisfied with underachieving in life.

[jedmanivx]

False, the youngest in our family is the most "un-fun" loving and the oldest is the attention seeker.

[RsBerzerkaVG]

The oldest gets blamed for everything too. Lol

[jakep]

I can't believe some of you don't get it. There are exceptions, and just because it's not true for you, THAT DOES NOT MEAN THE ENTIRE STUDY IS WRONG.I guess some people take this shit personally and feel the need to share how "I'm the youngest and I'm smarter than all my siblings and bla bla bla...."

[steph]

I am the oldest child out of 3. Last year I finally got my very own ipad. And my youngest brother received 2 android tablets. I'm 13 and he is 4. And he doesn't even use his tablets! He uses mine! My parents even tell me to give it to him... Pointing out that he has two tablets of his own does not make a difference. So far, I still haven't gotten a phone, but I'm assuming when I do (probably when I'm 16+) the brat is going to get one the same time as well. -_-

[SolaceReignFalls]

I hate being the oldest I have to be responsible for my younger siblings and I get in trouble more and also I have to be the first to die also I have to have less time to do what I want but I have to die first 😔😔😔😔

[thgraderfriends]

I always just thought when two people get together they think, "I want my children to be perfect., " or at least close to it. Then they have the kid, relize how hard it is, and with the next kid they're like, "They don't have to be perfect." Then when the last one comes along they're like, "Screw it, kids will be kids." So if we stop thinking we want perfect children then the pattern will stop.