A recent study from Washington University in St. Louis found that firstborn children who had many siblings, close in age, and of the opposite sex tended to have more creative ideas than their latter-born siblings. I’m not sure the study has any daily relevance to parents—I’m for encouraging creativity in all children. Still, one passage of the press release caught my eye:
Having younger siblings of the opposite sex helps develop a higher level of creativity because the oldest child tends to adopt roles that may not be stereotypically male or female. The influence of a younger sister on an older brother, for example, often means that the big brother isn’t being socialized as strongly in male roles.
Instead, the firstborn is exposed to a broader spectrum of behavior and perspectives—factors that might enrich a child’s experience growing up.
Non-stereotypical gender roles as boosters of creativity—many of us might put this in the “but we could have guessed that” category. Still, it’s encouraging to see this type of research coming from outside the LGBT community. (The study’s author, Markus Baer, is married and lives in Missouri, which I’m taking to mean he’s straight.) It also implies that LGBT parents, who do not always follow traditional gender roles, might give an extra boost of creativity to our children. I’m not saying our children are necessarily more creative than those of straight parents—there are too many factors involved in creativity to draw that conclusion. But our ability to color outside the lines might help engender the same in our offspring.
(Thanks to PhysOrg for the sighting.)