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Medical Video: The Oldest Child Is Smarter and Here's Why
As the first child, you may be smiling yourself seeing the title above. But for those born as younger siblings - or even youngest children - you might insist on rejecting this statement. In fact, this is true, you know! According to a study in England, firstborn children are indeed smarter than other siblings. Wow, why?
The eldest child is smarter than his younger siblings because of differences in parenting parents
The team of researchers from the University of Edinburgh in England concluded that the first child in a family had a score Intelligence Quotient (IQ) higher than his siblings. But this intelligence is not because they drain all the quality genes from their parents cleanly, but rather as a result of the abundant attention and emotional support they receive from both parents during the growth period - something that is not necessarily experienced by their younger siblings .
But that does not mean parents are indifferent in educating other children, you know! Regardless of the birth order, each child can (and has the right) to receive the same portion of emotional support from his parents, but this finding in some aspects makes sense because, first-born children do receive more benefits from spending more quality time with both parents without the slightest attention.
With one child, parents have more time available to support the mental development of the child (who is still) just puppets to equip them with maturity of ways of thinking and how they solve problems, compared to when the house has been filled with two or more children.
Understanding and harmonizing with the mental well-being of children early helps their brains develop more mature because the nerves in the brain are built through social and language connections, said Daniel J. Siegel, MD, director of the Center for Human Development at UCLA School of Medicine. WebMD. This is because children's interest in starting to learn at an early age is often motivated by close relationships. Children become interested in learning because they value the learning process with people who care.
The first child is smarter and more creative because he is required to be able to educate his younger brother
University of Edinburgh researchers report that, based on previous explanations, older siblings were more likely to have higher IQ scores than their siblings. The first children were also reported to tend to have richer vocabulary. Meanwhile, the second child and so on tended to be less creative and not very fond of literature or literature and music, the researchers said, which was caused by inequality and attention devoted by parents. This is what might affect the intelligence potential of each child.
On the other hand, according to another joint German study from the University of Mainz and Leipzig University, the intelligence of first children tends to develop faster because they can (and often are required to) teach their younger siblings about the world around them. To be able to teach others, a person is required to have a higher cognitive understanding - the first child needs to explore the knowledge they have previously gotten and process it, to then explain it to his younger siblings in a way that is easy to understand. This, according to researchers, can be a powerful impetus for the potential of intelligence in the first child.
But not all first children will definitely be smarter than their younger siblings
The first child must be proud to hear the good news above, but this does not make you heart-high. The reason, the researchers emphasized that their findings are only a big picture and may not be the same for every different family situation. In fact, other studies show that the correlation between first-born children and high intelligence is felt to be excessive. For example, a 2015 study looked at the personality and intelligence of 377 thousand high school students found striking differences.
For example, even though older children tend to show higher IQ scores than their younger siblings, the average difference is only about one point. The same is true with personality differences. The study found that although older children tended to be more extroverted, fun, thorough, and more mature than their younger siblings, this difference was very small. Characteristics of personality, emotional stability, friendliness, emotional awareness, and imagination are not affected by the birth order of the child.
Apart from genetics and affection, there are several guarantees for ways to develop children's intelligence - no matter the first, second, third, or so on. By fulfilling good nutrition of pregnant women and nutrition of children during their growth and development, protection from poisons and pollutants, and a balance between learning and playing and sports, every parent can have a smart child.
