4 Myths Now Debunked By Decades Of Research

1: Only Children Are Aggressive, Bossy.
Fact: Only children learn quickly that attempting to run the show, a ploy that they may get away with at home, doesn’t work with friends. A bossy, aggressive attitude is a quick ticket to ostracism from the group. Lacking siblings, only children want to be included and well liked. Studies have shown that parents can play a big role in helping to ensure that their only child “plays well with others.

2) Only Children Are Spoiled.
Fact: Being spoiled reflects our society, not sibling status. The Chinese feared they were raising a generation of “little emperors” when their only-child policy existed. Looking back 30 years later, researchers found that only children are not particularly spoiled. They spotted no differences in only children’s relationships with friends when studied with children who had siblings.

3.Only Children Are Selfish
Fact:
Every child at one time or another believes the world revolves around him. “Selfish means you are thinking of yourself as opposed to others,” explains Michael Lewis, professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey. “The youngster who is unable to take the view of another is going to appear selfish. There are points in people’s lives, one of them being adolescence, when the energy is withdrawn. Hormonal changes and physical growth during that time may be particularly harsh and the energy to focus on others just isn’t there.”

4) Only Children Become Too Mature Too Quickly
Fact: Children with siblings relate and talk to their siblings rather than their parents. The only child’s primary role models are parents. The result: only children copy adult behavior and adult speech patterns, developing good reasoning skills early on. This makes them better equipped to handle the ups and downs of growing up. A good thing, for sure.