A study has finally gone ahead and proved what the rest of the world has been claiming for the last couple of centuries — the eldest child is the smartest. It’s official . I kid you not.
Are you the first-born in your family? You’ll definitely want to read this! A study from Leipzig University has found that each successive sibling has a lower IQ than the one before. If it helps, it’s nothing to do with biology, but rather upbringing.
Just in case you were wondering why the first-borns are cleverer than their siblings, it is because the older siblings receive their parents’ undivided attention. Add to that the benefit of ‘teaching’ younger siblings, explained The Telegraph .
Leipzig University’s Dr Julia Rohrer explained, ” While the firstborn gets full parental attention, at least for some months or years, additional children will have to share from the beginning,” The Independent reported .
Of course the younger children agree. They have been conditioned to think of themselves as less clever than their siblings. But the good news is that the difference is relatively small — at around 1.5 IQ points for each younger sibling, the German researchers explained.
The middle child in me is not very happy with this news…