Study Proves: Only Children Have A More Flexible Mind
L. aut an article published in the journal Brain Imaging and Behavior was published, the brains of children differ depending on whether they only children or whether they grow up with siblings.
The article refers to a Chinese study. This says that the brain area that is responsible for language is more pronounced in only children.
However, the area that is responsible for regulating emotions is less pronounced in them than in children with siblings.
A group of researchers at Southwest University in Chongqing, China analyzed 303 young Chinese children. Of these, 126 were only children and 177 were children with siblings.
All of them underwent a series of tests designed to measure their intelligence, creativity, and personality. The scientists also analyzed the brain shapes of the study participants using magnetic resonance imaging.
When analyzing the results, the researchers found that the brains of only children have both overdeveloped and underdeveloped areas.
This is mainly because the family environments in which we humans grow affect the development of our brain structure and personality.
Only children are very creative
The researchers couldn’t find a difference in IQ (intelligence quotient). However, they concluded that only children have higher levels of gray matter in the brain area associated with language, flexibility, imagination, and planning.
This is mainly due to the undivided attention of parents. That would mean that the creativity developed by children depends to some extent on the expectations and attention of parents.
The study also found that only children had lower levels of gray cells in the middle frontal cortex. This is the area of the brain associated with regulating emotions.
Therefore, compared to children with siblings, they achieve lower values for friendliness and interpersonal relationships.
The Chinese researchers explain that these features could suggest that the social environment is responsible for these differences. Those who grow up in a more lonely social environment – i.e. without siblings – only achieved lower empathy values in the tests.
The fact that only children are perceived as less pleasant and friendly may be due to the undivided attention that is given to them. You don’t have to assert yourself in a group, but are the focus of your family.
In these cases, girls and boys also tend to want to be less exposed to social group situations and prefer to be alone and play.
According to the published article, this causes children to develop some “undesirable personality traits”. These include addiction, lack of kindness, selfishness, and social ineptitude.
Only children: less social?
It’s also important to note that the aforementioned study was conducted with a relatively small sample in China. Also, only young people were analyzed.
In other studies and with different age groups, new variables could emerge. Therefore, it should be noted that this study could have potential limitations and biased data.
However, this is not the first time that a study has analyzed the brain structure of only children. In fact, there are previous behavioral studies that show results similar to the results of this Chinese study.
An analysis of 115 scientific studies conducted in 1986 showed that only children did well in areas such as intelligence, character, and parenting. They get better results than candidates who grew up with multiple siblings.
A stubborn personality
Only children are usually very stubborn because they are used to pursuing their own interests. They can also often be possessive. They can be very strict about their privacy and time as they are not used to having to share it with anyone else.
However, the personality varies – depending on the living conditions of a child. How parents raise their children has a huge impact on a child’s personality.
An article published on the Internet explains that only children have another characteristic: They are very mature for their age. This characteristic can be traced back to their environment and social contacts.
Since they have no siblings, they search often the company of their parents or other adults. And since these adults are the only role models they have, they compare themselves to them.
They love to pretend they’re much older than they actually are. As a result, many only children can even become the typical “know-it-alls”.
