Life
Only Children Are Most Likely To Be Cheaters
Only children get a bad rap and are rarely spoken of in a positive light. Labeled selfish, bossy, and spoiled, it would be nice to read the results of a study that had something nice to say about the children born without siblings, wouldn't it? Well, sorry to tell you, only children, but this latest bit of research isn’t it. Indeed, another study annotates that only children are, yet again, bad people. This study, conducted by the world’s largest online dating website for sugar babies and wealthy benefactors, SeekingArrangement, has concluded that, of all siblings one can have, those who have none – a.k.a only children – are most likely to cheat on their partners. While more than half admitted they would cheat if they’d never been caught, it was discovered that, of the 43,000 men and women surveyed on SeekingArrangement.com (who, truth be told, may not be the most loyal of companions) 33 percent of "onlies" were likely to cheat, making them the majority of respondents.
Here are the additional percentages: 0 siblings: 33 percent 1 sibling: 14 percent 2 siblings: 20 percent 3 siblings: 9 percent 4+ siblings: 24 percent
As you’ll see, people who have no siblings as well as those who have many (over four) are most likely to cheat, which kind of defeats the idea that with more siblings, one is less likely to cheat. The site CEO and founder Brandon Wade said in a press release:
“Only children have the stigma of growing up quite lonely with the tendency to fill that void. One has to believe that these habits transgress into all of their relationships, romantic included.”
I don't buy it. But of course I’m a tad biased. Below are a few more science-backed things you didn't know about only children.
1. Only children are more likely to divorce
This makes sense considering only children are most likely to cheat. The study, by Ohio State University, took place across the United States and included 57,000 adults between 1972 and 2012. The study found that each additional sibling reduces the likelihood of divorce by two percent. "We expected that if you had any siblings at all, that would give you the experience with personal relationships that would help you in marriage," said Donna Bobbitt-Zeher, co-author of the study. "But we found that the real story appears to be how family dynamics change incrementally with the addition of each sibling. More siblings means more experience dealing with others, and that seems to provide additional help in dealing with a marriage relationship as an adult."
2. Only children do better in school
Finally, a good one! According to a study published in the American Sociological Review, siblings actually hinder a child in their academic pursuits. As with the divorce study above, it was found that the more siblings one has, the lower their grades turned out to be. Researchers claim this is because as family size increases, parents talk less to each child about school, have lower educational expectations, save less for college, and have fewer education materials available.
3. Only children are becoming the norm
As expenses increase, families are making wise financial decisions to have fewer and fewer children, according to experts. (The Agriculture Department notes the average family spends $245,300 per child until the age of 18.) In fact, the advancement of these only children children could raise the collective IQ in the United States two or three points, predicts Dr. Frank Sulloway, who teaches psychology at the University of California at Berkeley. The number of only child households has seen a rise in U.S. and parts of Europe. According to census data, nearly one quarter of American families have one child, and the number increases as a city’s population does; in New York City, the number now tops 30 percent.
4. Only children, as far as celebrities are concerned, are quite successful
In fact, many of the world’s premier trailblazers are only children. Here are just a few:
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Thomas Edison
- Condoleezza Rice
- Tiger Woods
- Franklin Roosevelt
- Frank Sinatra
- Elvis Presley
- Betty White
- Carol Burnett
- Eleanor Roosevelt
- John Lennon
- Natalie Portman
- Al Pacino
- Charlize Theron
- James Dean
Images: Bustle Stock Photo; Giphy
