Birth Order Affects More Than Thought

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Birth order is nothing to take lightly. Whether being a first born child or a last born child is a prime factor in an adolescent’s maturing. Being a first born child might make you more cautious rather than a last born child may make you an attention seeking child. To few people’s knowledge, birth order determines many distinctive physical and mental characteristics of an adolescent, such as being smart, kind, tall, mature or even organized. There has been a Norwegian study that found the average IQ of young men and has concluded that first born children and only children have the highest IQ. This study started with the men taking IQ tests and stating information about their age and birth order. The test results were then plotted and the average was found for each order of birth. The first child in the family was found to have an average of 100.3 IQ points. The second born child had an average of 100.2 IQ points and the third child had an average of 99 IQ points. While these scores may seem to have only minor differences, the one point difference may be the deciding factor in passing an exam or class and failing an exam or class. The explanation for this difference is rather simple; it is hard to fully understand the concept because of the variation of families. With a first or only child, the kid has the full attention of his or her parents. The attention that the child receives is a rather large factor in the personality forming process. The parents almost always talk and play with the first child more than the second or third. This creates a larger vocabulary in the child and a ‘boost’ in the child’s development. The next child or children does not receive this attention so they does not exactly get that ‘boost’ in vocabulary... ... middle of paper ... ...olescents. The baby of the family is found to be the shortest out of their siblings and is also found to be the least intelligent of the family with an average IQ of 99. (Birth Order: Youngest 1) Works Cited “Birth Order Progressively Affects Childhood Height” ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.11 May. 2013 Clin Endocrinol (OXF) 18 March 2014 “Birth Order: What is ‘Birth Order’” pbskids.org.2005. Castle Works Inc. “Does Birth Order Affect Your IQ?” theloop.ca. 31 Oct. 3013. Gord Woodward. 19 March 2014 Kalman, Bobbie. “One Child Families”. The People. 2001:12 “The Birth Order Effect” psycoligies.co.uk. 1954. Psychologies. 20 March, 2014

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