The only child in the family: what science says about it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

It is believed that children who do not have siblings grow up to be spoiled and selfish. We figure out if this is so.

The only children in the family always do everything in their own way, do not know how to share and, as a rule, are selfish - such stereotypes have been established. Although recent studies say this is an exaggeration. So where did these prejudices come from?

Back in the 19th century, the American educator Eugene Bohannon published the results of a survey of 200 people (for that time it was a new form of research). In it, he asked the respondents to tell about the characteristics of the character of all the children they knew.

In 196 cases, participants described the only children in the family as too spoiled. Bohannon's colleagues agreed with the results of his research, after which the idea that one child in a family is bad became widespread in society.

In addition, in the early twentieth century, it was believed that parenting without siblings made children hypersensitive. Parents concentrate all their worries and fears on one child, and this makes him too susceptible. As a result, he grows up to be a faint-hearted hypochondriac.

However, data obtained by psychologist Tony Falbo refuted these claims. She is the only child in the family. And in his work, he claims that the presence of brothers and sisters does not guarantee the formation of a worthy person.

In 1986, Tony reviewed over 200 studies on this topic. And she found no significant difference between those who have brothers and sisters and those who were raised alone.

But it turned out that the only children in the family have stronger emotional ties with their parents.

This finding was confirmed by a 2018 study by Andreas Klock and Sven Stadtmüller of the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. They analyzed dynamic data from approximately 10,000 German schoolchildren to determine the personality traits of first-borns in large families and only children.

The researchers also looked at the quality of their relationship with their parents, measured by how easily a child could reach out to them about difficult and important issues.

As a result, 25% of the only children in the family found their relationship with their parents positive. In families with several children, there were fewer first-borns who could say the same thing. In third place in terms of proximity to their parents were the middle ones in seniority, and in last - the youngest.

Despite close ties with their parents, many children who grew up without siblings regret it. This was found out in 2001 by Lisen Roberts and Priscilla Blanton, when they asked several young people to recall their childhood.

In addition, it is because of the lack of a reliable companion in the person of a brother or sister in preschool age that imaginary friends often appear with whom children play and share their experiences. But there is no need to worry about this - such a game develops the child's ability to communicate with others.

However, there is still evidence that single children in a family are less likely to compromise. This new data was obtained in China - where the one-child policy dictated the rules of family planning for almost four decades.

A group of researchers led by psychologist Jiang Qiu interviewed 126 students who did not have siblings and 177 who did. Their thinking abilities and personal qualities were assessed.

The only children in the family showed the worst results in the tolerance test.

And according to the five-factor model of human personality (FFM), such people are characterized as conflicting, distrustful, egocentric and prone to competition.

Students were also asked to take Torrance's creative creativity test. They needed to come up with as many original uses for everyday objects as possible, such as a tin can.

The only children in the family had more lateral thinking - they were able to solve problems creatively.

This may be due to the fact that, without brothers and sisters, children often have to rely only on themselves. Therefore, they are forced to become inventive and resourceful at an early age.

But that's not all. MRI tests revealed differences in brain structure. In the only children in the family, the researchers found more gray matter in the supramarginal gyrus, an area of the cortex associated with creativity and imagination.

However, they had fewer gray matter cells in the frontal lobe. And this area is just responsible for the tendency to tolerance, the ability to understand the feelings of others and control their own emotions.

The impact of the absence of siblings depends on how many other opportunities the child has to develop social and cognitive abilities. In the end, they are not cut off from society: the same communication in kindergarten contributes to the development of communication skills.

While parents with only one child will have to work harder to teach them how to share their toys, books, and adult attention, the number of children in the family is not as important as creating a calm and loving atmosphere.