How your parents raised you has no impact on how smart you become, according to a new study.
Kevin Beaver, a researcher at Florida State University, said nurturing parents make you happy (which is important) but it doesn't equate to making you smarter. Your intelligence quotient (IQ) is derived more from genetics than parenting.
It was previously perceived that parents who nurture their children more are increasing their IQ, but in actuality their parenting is just "giving their child the best chance to succeed - not because they improve the child's IQ, but because they allow the child to develop into a healthy individual," Beaver said.
Beaver, along with his team, studied more than 15,000 middle and high school students. The researchers asked the students questions such as how warm and loving their parents are, how close they are with their parents, and how much they think their parents care about them. The students were also asked what activities they do with their parents including playing sports, shopping and talking over dinner.
The research team came up with their findings by comparing these interview answers with the IQs of the corresponding students.
The study found that when someone is naturally better at an activity than someone who works hard at it genes are to blame.
"The key is to find what you are good at and what you enjoy," Beaver said of the study. "Work your hardest to become the best you can be."
