Sons of Older Fathers Are More Intelligent, Study Finds

The sons of older fathers are reportedly more intelligent and focused on their interests. They are also less concerned about their integration into groups. These are typical “geek traits”, as they are called.

This is all according to the results of The Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, published on June 20, 2017, in the Translational Psychiatry journal.

Sons of Older Fathers, Also Positive, Not Just Negative Effects

In previous research, it was shown that sons of older fathers presented a higher risk of autism, schizophrenia. However, the newest research shows that there are also positive sides pertaining to the birth of sons of older fathers.

The research was done by The Seaver Autism Center and King’s College London. Researchers collected behavioral data and cognitive data from 15,000 UK-based twin pairs. The twin pairs were from the Twins Development Study (TEDS).

When the pairs reached the age of 12, they took online tests that measure the “geek-like” traits of the twins. Among them were included non-verbal IQ, a strong focus on a subject of interest, and also levels of social aloofness. Parents were also involved in the study, being asked whether their child considered their peers’ opinion about them and the time the children invested in certain activities of interest.

Based on the information collected, researchers made an index for every child involved in the study. Results pointed to the fact that sons of older fathers had higher levels of traits which showed a higher IQ and other traits mentioned above. The effects were persistent after the parents were questioned about the social or economic status, their qualifications, and employment.

Furthermore, children showed higher and better scoring in school exams, especially exams pertaining to technology, science, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. This was also the case several years after the measurement of their index.

Magdalena Janecka, a Ph.D. and postdoctoral research fellow at the Seaver Center stated:

“Our study suggests that kids of older men are not only smarter, but also better able to adapt to environments that require dedicated pursuit of one’s goals, characteristics that promote educational and, likely, career success”.

This will prove important for the study of the two traits: a higher level of intelligence and the way autism develops in the case of the other children of older men.

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