Is the Oldest Sibling the Smartest?

This month, research was presented at the American Psychological Association that pointed out that the oldest siblings scored higher on aptitude tests. The younger siblings, however, typically obtain higher grade point averages. Could this be because the oldest sibling was once an only child and received more attention? Or is it because the younger siblings strive harder to do better than their older siblings?

As the oldest sibling, I would say yes I am smarter. Now granted in my case it could be simply because I am nine years older than my sister so my life experience is greater for obvious reasons. As for book smarts, my younger sister is probably smarter because she just likes to learn. My husband, my mother, my father-in-law and my mother-in-law are oldest siblings as well, and I would say that this theory of the oldest sibling being the smartest holds true for them also.

With my children, I have always thought the opposite to be true. Granted, my children are probably atypical in the sense that they like to spend time together and rarely fight. As the oldest sibling, my daughter is two years ahead of her younger brother in school. For the two years she was in school prior to my son starting school, he would stay at the table with her waiting for her to do her homework so that they could play.

Now, school seems to come very natural to my son and many of the things that he knows are things that his sister is learning in school. I think he is just there and soaking up all the knowledge around him. His CRCT scores are higher than hers were and things just come to him faster.

Everyone told me boys are harder to raise, and maybe that would be the case if he was the oldest. I would say that the oldest sibling is the hardest to raise because the experiences are new and as a parent I have yet to learn how to deal with things. We have many years of school left to go, so I guess we will just have to wait and see if the theory that the oldest sibling is smarter holds true for us or not. They are each intelligent in their own ways and interests.

"Firstborns smart, but younger siblings work harder". http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/16/firstborns-smart-but-younger-siblings-work-harder/ 16 August 2010.