Go to My O-MAMA page News & Events from a Mom's Perspective

Weekly Opinion
THE STATE OF OUR UNION: Opinionated MAMA's Perspective on "Keeping It Together"

When the honeymoon is over and the day-to-day grind of real life begins, it takes a lot of hard work to create a healthy, happy...more perfect...union. Whether we are talking about the state of our country or the state of our own marriage and family, the message is the same. We need to take time to evaluate what is working, what isn’t and figure out how to adjust accordingly. If we are in a dysfunctional relationship it is hard to deal with any problems, big or small. Never mind an economic crisis, healthcare crisis,...

Read the full article
Opinion Poll

TV Schedule


OMAMA: "Playground Politics"

Jump to a
Hot Button Issue

View all

Active Discussion Groups

<< Back
OLDER AND WISER: First Borns Smarter

A research study conducted at Adelphi University, asserts that birth order does indeed make a difference in IQ and personality. First borns are said to be typically smarter, while younger siblings are more outgoing and get better grades. Traditional studies of birth order focused primarily on the parent-child relationship; citing that first borns could credit their achievements to the fact that at some point in their lives, they were the sole recipients of their parents attention. Doctoral candidate Tiffany Frank looked more closely at the influence of sibling relationships. In her study, younger siblings were found to be more extroverted, sentimental, and open to new experiences. Frank attributed this trend to influences like competition between themselves and their more perfectionist older siblings.

Momism: “You can’t compare apples to oranges.” As MAMAs, we read every book, spend hours on the floor, take parenting classes and seek advice for every issue when we have our first child.  When baby number two comes along our attention becomes divided.  Our second child has to become more adaptable...they just need to deal, right? Not as much floor time, more time in the car seat.   Our younger children are not typically like our over-achieving, people-pleasing first borns. But, in fact, they may be more well-rounded, sociable and better adjusted.  Birth order does have an influence.

 

It makes life interesting, and reminds us that we need to uniquely parent each of our children. What works for one, may not work for another. Think back to your own family dynamic growing up.  MAMAs, where do you fall in sibling birth order?  Does this ring true? Perhaps we could learn a little something from our own sibling relationships. Peachy, huh?

MSNBC-First Borns

You must log in to comment, please Log In or Sign Up

  • voodle

    First off, there are different types of intelligences- look to Howard Gardner's work on Mulitple Intelligences and Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence. Ask yourself, what does it mean to be smart? Are you talking about book smart, grades, reciting and memorization of facts? What type of "smarts" does it take to be successfull in life, relationships, business, making money??? Next take a look at the IQ tests that determine who is smarter than who, are they culturally skewed? What type of knowledge is valued? Can you give the same test to an uneducated rural farmer and a rich, well-educated professional and get an accurate picture of who has a higher IQ?? I think not. What we need is a new view of what intelligence actually is, how it can be fairly measure, (if it can) and then an honest look at why we care, and how it can benefit us all without putting people in predetermined categories according to their birth order. No two families are the same, no two people are the same, no two life experiences are the same. With this many variables, I do not believe that a "test" can give us the full picture of what it means to be intelligent.
    on 08/25/10
    Reply