New research has found that second-born children – particularly boys – are more likely to engage in criminal behavior than their older counterparts, according to MIT economist Joseph Doyle.
In an interview with National Public Radio, Doyle said that second-born children are “much more likely to end up in prison, much more likely to get suspended in school, [or] enter juvenile delinquency.” He added that there’s a 25 to 40 percent increase in the chances of any of these outcomes happening when comparing a second-born sibling to a first-born.
Doyle’s research centers around boys because boys are more likely than girls to get into trouble during their teenage years, NPR said. Doyle examined data of thousands of brothers from Florida and Denmark, but came to similar conclusions when it came to crime and delinquency among second-born children.
The explanation? Parents tend to spend more time with their first-born child, giving them undivided attention and engaging in activities such as bedtime stories, arts and crafts and playing instruments, according to Simple Most. In many cases, older siblings perform better on tests and have higher IQ scores.
Additionally, first-born children look to their parents as their first role-models in life, while second-born children also have role models who are “slightly irrational 2-year-olds,” Doyle said. This pushes the notion that first-born children may behave more maturely than their younger siblings.
The report notes that every family is different and the research covers a broader spectrum.
