Baby illusion Nesthäkchen always stay small

Nesthäkchen stay through „Baby Illusion“ always small

17/12/2013

The last-born always remain from the point of view of their mothers „the small“ in the family - even if they have long since reached adulthood. An Australian study has now shown that this phenomenon literally exists because mothers estimated their height „Nesthäkchen“ on average by 7.5 inches lower than it actually was.

„Nesthäkchen“ especially vulnerable for many parents
For most parents, the children are always the children - even if they eventually stand on their own two feet, have moved out and founded their own family. This is especially true in the case of the last born, because the „Nesthäkchen“ In the eyes of many parents, they need a lot of protection and care. Now Australian researchers have found that this phenomenon is not only very common, but also measurable, because many mothers consider their youngest child to be too small.

Australian researchers interview 747 mothers
As the Australian researchers around Jordy Kaufman from the Swinburne University of Technology Hawthorn currently in the journal “Current Biology” report, apparently the so-called “Baby Illusion” responsible for ensuring that in a family the child receives the most attention, which they most need - that is, the smallest and youngest. In the study, researchers asked 747 mothers if the older sibling suddenly made a bigger impression after the baby was born - which is what more than 70 percent of women with „Yes“ answered.

"Baby illusion" ensures that parents assess the youngest child too small
But this effect is not the result of the researchers - as is often assumed - because the older child suddenly seems considerably larger in comparison with the newborn. Instead, the Australians could confirm a different theory through their investigations: „We hypothesized that human parents are exposed to a kind of "baby illusion" under which they routinely rate their youngest child smaller than he / she really is, no matter how old the child is. As soon as a new baby is born, this illusion ends and the parents see for the first time the former youngest in its true size“. This would now regulate the miscalculation of the parents in terms of size and growth of the child - but since after the „Nesthäkchen“ No more sibling follows, so the effect on the youngest, so the conclusion of the scientists.

Also size of single children is misjudged
The same applies to the scientists after single children - because even here there would be no descendant sibling, which could provide an end to the "baby illusion". Accordingly, the single-child mothers misjudged the size of their children - with the wrong perception occurring regardless of gender and age of the children, the researchers continue.

Mothers estimate an average of 7.5 centimeters
In a further step, the scientists had examined how pronounced the misjudgment was to mothers whose youngest child was between two and six years old. The women were asked to mark the assumed size of their children on a wall - which led to astounding results: While the assumptions for the older children were broadly correct, the mothers estimated their height „Nesthäkchen“ on average by 7.5 inches smaller than she actually was. „Baby illusion is a true and common effect that transforms our understanding of how infantile functions are motivating parental care and treatment.“ (No)