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   Techtimes   
   LIFE   
      
   Birth Order Influences IQ: First-Born Child Often The Smartest   
      
   By Katrina Pascual | Oct 21, 2015 07:50 AM EDT   
      
      
   German researchers found that oldest children scored higher on intelligence   
   tests, with IQ and the person's perception of his or her intelligence   
   decreasing as the sibling rank goes down. After IQ, birth order and character   
   did not exhibit a strong link    
   between each other. (Photo : David Goehring | Flickr)   
   Older siblings are considered more likely to be reliable, independent, and   
   high achievers. Middle children are said to be somewhere rebellious,   
   people-pleasing, and with large social circles, while youngest children are   
   thought to be carefree, attention-   
   seeking, and self-centered. Birth order stereotypes abound, but is there truth   
   to them?   
      
   A study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of   
   Sciences by German researchers appear to think so, concluding that the   
   first-born tends to be smarter than younger siblings.   
      
   The team found that consistent with several earlier studies, oldest children   
   scored higher on intelligence tests, with IQ and the person's perception of   
   his or her intelligence decreasing as the sibling rank goes down.   
      
   The team analyzed about 5,200 Americans, 4,500 British people, and 10,500   
   Germans to compare individuals within families and versus other sibling sets.   
   The IQ and personality tests included questions on one's birth order and IQ,   
   self-reported    
   intelligence, and big-five personality traits: agreeableness, consciousness,   
   emotional stability, extroversion and imagination.   
      
   They evaluated significant and close age gaps and obtained similar results.   
      
      
   "It was surprising the results are so clear," said Julia Rohrer, a study   
   author and University of Leipzig psychology graduate student.   
      
   After IQ, birth order and character did not exhibit a strong connection   
   between each other.   
      
   What could then be one reason for higher IQs among firstborns? Rohrer said it   
   might be due to first-time parenting, therefore being prone to closely   
   attending to the needs of the only child and stressing on the value of   
   education.   
      
   It could also be a self-fulfilling prophecy: a specific kid reflects a birth   
   order stereotype, so the other siblings tend to follow suit.   
      
   Another possible factor in the results, added the researchers, is the tutoring   
   hypothesis, where a first-born can "tutor" younger siblings and explain the   
   ways of the world.   
      
   Rohrer explained that teaching others requires "high cognitive demands," with   
   the children needing to draw from their own knowledge bank, structuring the   
   information, and devising a way to explain it to the younger ones. This could   
   boost the first-born's    
   own intelligence.   
      
   According to University of California Berkeley Professor Frank Sulloway, the   
   researchers used very broad categories, possibly missing birth order effects.   
   He said that the birth order effects on personality may also be "canceling   
   themselves out at the    
   collective trait level" -- firstborns are deemed assertive (extroversion   
   trait) while last-borns are expected to be sociable yet less talkative.   
      
   Sulloway argued that the two extroversion aspect traits, namely high   
   assertiveness and low sociability, cancel each other out.   
      
   Photo: David Goehring | Flickr   
      
   http://www.techtimes.com/articles/97789/20151021/birth-order-inf   
   uences-iq-first-born-child-often-the-smartest.htm   
      
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