Birth Order Has No Noticeable Effect On Personality, IQ, Study Says
CHAMPAIGN, Ill., July 20 (UPI) — Birth order produces a small, statistically significant difference in personality and IQ, but it is far too small to be noticeable to anybody in everyday life.
Most birth order-related differences in children are more likely based on the actions and interpretation of their parents, not the slight differences between them, according to a study published in the Journal of Research in Personality.
“The message of this study is that birth order probably should not influence your parenting, because it’s not meaningfully related to your kid’s personality or IQ,” Rodica Damian, a professor of psychology at the University of Houston, said in a press release.
Researchers analyzed data for 377,000 high school students collected by Project Talent, factoring in a family’s economic status, the number of children and the relative age of the siblings at the time of the analysis. They found that first-born children have a one-point advantage over their younger siblings, and that there is about a 0.02 percent difference in their being extroverted, agreeable and conscientious, and having less anxiety, as previous studies have found.
University of Illinois psychology Professor Brent Roberts said that while 0.02 percent is significant statistically — such as a drug saving 10 out of 10,000 lives — but in reality it doesn’t matter.
He said that many studies focus on relationships within families but that doesn’t give an accurate picture because the oldest kid is always older, so parents who see their first-born as being more responsible than their younger children are correct, because the first-born is older and more experienced.
“But in terms of personality traits and how you rate them, a 0.02 correlation doesn’t get you anything of note,” Roberts said. “You are not going to be able to see it with the naked eye. You’re not going to be able to sit two people down next to each other and see the differences between them. It’s not noticeable by anybody.”
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