u/SaveMary

We're told only children are spoiled.
Selfish.
Unable to share.
Bad at friendships.

That isn't a personality profile.
It's a stereotype built on a single study, published in 1896, that has never been replicated.

But psychology has been studying only children for over a century since, and here's what it actually found:

➡️ Only children match firstborns academically, and in many studies, outperform them. A review of over 500,000 participants published in Psychological Bulletin found no meaningful difference in intelligence between only children and those with siblings.

➡️ Only children score higher on measures of creative thinking than children with siblings. Researchers attribute this to more unstructured alone time, the kind that builds imagination, self-direction, and independent thought.

➡️ The social skills gap doesn't exist either. A landmark meta-analysis found only children are no more selfish, no more lonely, and no less socially competent than children raised with siblings. What shapes social development isn't the number of people in the house. It's the quality of relationships inside it.

➡️ Only children consistently show stronger, more secure attachment to their parents. More one-on-one time, more attuned conversation, more emotional availability, all of which are the documented foundations of a securely attached child.

So if you're a parent who has one child, here's what to remember:

1. ⁠Stop absorbing the stereotype on their behalf. Every time you apologise for having one child, or qualify your family as "just the three of us, your child absorbs the implication.
2. ⁠Know what actually shapes character. It isn't siblings. It's the quality of connection they have with you.

Your child doesn't have a syndrome.

They have your full attention, and the science to prove that's enough.

My 2.5 year old son is in the process of potty training and he said he needed to potty so we ran in and he did 3 little poops and said, “Look it’s mommy, daddy, and Liam!”

I love our triangle family (even though I was just compared to a poop lol) 🤍

Need opinions and advice. Want to know how you’d react.

My 2.5 year old son has been a terror the past few days on our beach vacation. His 3 year old cousin has been here too and they love each other so much but obviously there’s some issues with sharing toys, etc.

Well my son was having a meltdown and wanted a yogurt bite and we told him he had to share with his cousin because he had already hogged the bag for 20 minutes. His great aunt (she’s his 3 year old cousin’s grandma) took the bag and was going to let him get one out rather than holding the whole bag and my son immediately reacted and tried to pull the bag and started trying to hit. His younger cousin (almost 1) was sitting by his aunt and my son was attempting to hit him too.

I immediately jumped up to grab my son and get him away from the situation and his aunt jerked him away and smacked him so hard on his back it left a handprint. My husband immediately picked our son up and we’re upstairs with him decompressing because it all happened so fast and I’m set on leaving in the morning.

How would you have reacted? She tried to talk to us at the door but my husband said he didn’t want to talk right now and then she texted us and said she’d leave in the morning if we wanted her too. I’m just at a loss for words because I would NEVER hit someone else’s child. She said she was reacting because the baby was there but I’m like, you’re 60 years old. In what world is it acceptable to lose your cool and hit someone else’s child?