Older Dads Are More Likely to Have ‘Geeky’ Sons, New Research Suggests

The older the dad, the nerdier the son.

Fathers that wait to start a family are more likely to have “geeky” sons, according to the “Geek Index,” developed from new research on the subject. Sons of dads older than 50 years of age tend to be more intelligent, more focused on their interests, and less concerned with fitting in, the study suggested.

Scientists from the King’s College in London and Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City collected cognitive and behavioral data on 15,000 twins to reach the conclusion. They published their findings last week in the Translational Psychiatry.

Interestingly, older mothers didn’t seem to provide the same advantages while daughters of older dads seemed to miss out the “nerdy” qualities as well.

According to the BBC, several previous studies showed that older fathers were also more likely to have children with autism and schizophrenia. Mature sperm is prone to more genetic errors, so research that produces good news on the subject is a rarity.

To develop the “Geek Index,” researchers scored the twelve-year-olds based on their non-verbal IQ, focus on a particular subject, and social aloofness. Children with higher scores grew up to perform better academically, especially in STEM fields.