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The Intellectual Achievement of Only Children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Denise F. Polit  and
Toni Falbo
Denise F. Polit
Affiliation:
Humanalysis, Saratoga Springs, New York
Toni Falbo
Affiliation:
University of Texas, Austin, USA
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Summary

A quantitative review of the literature on the intellectual achievement of only children indicated that only children were never at a disadvantage in relation to any comparison group; nor were they significantly different from first-born children or children from two-child families. Moreover, only children were at a significant advantage in comparison with later-born children and those from large families. The consistency of these findings across subgroups suggests that interpersonal mechanisms are largely responsible. The strong only-child advantage on tests of verbal ability, together with the overall pattern of findings, implicates parent–child interactions as responsible for the family size and birth order variations in intellectual achievement.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , July 1988 , pp. 275 - 286
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

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