Boys with older dads are more likely to be geeks, study shows

Are you socially ostracised? Do you have no idea how to talk to people you fancy? Do you care about neither of those things because you love and enjoy this one specific thing so much that you have no need for friends and/or relationships?

Well done, you are a geek. And, while you might be perfectly happy with your lot in life, there must be a small part of you that, every so often, wonders what it must be like to be popular and cool, and a tiny part of you that, every so often, wishes that things could have turned out differently.

Well, it turns out that it could have all been different, had your dad not waited so long to give birth to you.

A recent study conducted by Canvas8 has found that boys born to older fathers are more likely to have ‘geeky’ traits (that is, they have higher IQs, are more aloof and have more intense focus on their interests).

Researchers studied 7,781 British twins, creating a geek index and using the non-verbal IQ of the subjects, along with parental reports about them to determine their scores.

Children of fathers aged 25 of younger scored an average of 39.6, while those whose fathers were aged over 50 scored 47. The age of the mother appeared to have no significant bearing on geekiness, while the score and traits were more pronounced among boys than girls.

The research also suggested that nature and nurture are probably equally influential – with older dads more likely to be able to provide better access to schooling, due to having more established careers and higher social status.

People are having children later than ever, with 68% of fathers being aged over 30, as of 2015, and there are some drawbacks, with links to an increased risk of birth defects and genetic diseases. But this suggests that there can be benefits of older parenthood too.

“We have known for a while about the negative consequences of advanced paternal age, but now we have shown that these children may also go on to have better educational and career prospects,” says researcher Magdalena Janecka.

So, you can blame – or thank – your old man – literally – for waiting to have you for the intense love of Star Trek you have.

(Image: CBS)