Sons of older fathers are likely to be geeks

SONS of older fathers are more likely to display “geeky” traits such as high intelligence and obsessional interests, not caring if they fit in, new research shows.

Scientists came to the conclusion after studying the behaviour of 15,000 twin pairs from the UK.

When the boys were 12 years old they completed online tests that measured geek-like traits including a high non-verbal IQ, a strong focus on personal interests – and social aloofness.

Overall, sons of older fathers turned out to have a higher geek index score than those born when their dads were younger. Geekiness appeared to “jump” after a father’s 45th birthday.

However, being geeky was not necessarily a handicap and in some ways proved advantageous. In later years geekier boys did better in exams than their classmates.