Study Indicates Reproducing Lowers IQ

[nemorathwald]

This article brought to mind the old saying, "Just wait until you have children of your own, then you'll see I'm right!" I recently read of another study that found becoming an authority figure rewires structures in the brain, but I can't find that article at this time.

Indiana University study: having children significantly lowers parents’ IQs

"A five-year study run by Indiana University’s Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction proves what many in the scientific community have always suspected: having children significantly lowers the IQ of both male and female parents.

Researchers at the Kinsey Institute began their study in 1999 by giving 200 married couples who were planning on starting families within the next four years Intelligence Quotient (IQ) tests. By 2003, all but 27 of these couples had conceived.

Another IQ test was given to each set of parents successful in conceiving and birthing a baby six months after their child was born. These results were compared to the previous intelligence tests.

In every single one of the 173 cases, both parents scored at least twelve points lower on the second IQ test, with the majority of parents losing twenty or more IQ points.

Dr. Hosung Lee, director of the study, was not surprised with the findings. “The research proved that our hypothesis was correct. Having children does retard one’s brain activity, and since both parents lost intelligence, we must assume that this loss has a psychological rather than biological cause.”

The IQ tests show that when a child is born, the part of the brain that makes one think objectively takes the biggest hit when it comes to losing brainpower. “This explains why every parent thinks their child is the smartest kid in class or the best athlete, even if that child is as dumb as a box of rocks or needs a calendar to time their forty-yard dash. People who before were intelligent and open-minded turn into raving lunatics who want to blame a teacher or coach every time their mediocre child fails,” said Lee.

Lee says the Kinsey Institute will continue to test the couples participating in the study to determine if the loss of intelligence is reversible once children grow up and leave the nest and if parents who continue having children lose even more intelligence"

Comments

hear hear

[twoofdtm.livejournal.com]

Lot's of things can factor IQ scores besides just the actual having of the child. The staying at home raising them for a long time and not having the stimulation to the brain you used to have might be one. Another might be the stress that they go through. I would have to agree with Rache(no a coorect)l here on the fact that them getting retested after the child has grown enough to not need constant supervision would change the score again. It is an interesting thought to think it might have an effect though.

Re: hear hear

[matt-arnold.livejournal.com]

The study doesn't say what it is about being a parent that drops the IQ, but what you've said could account for it. I know it's not the embryology and birth process itself. The study could not be saying that, since men don't give birth. What happens to a man's sperm does not have a direct biological effect in his body.