What are the parenting effects on kids? | ReThinking with Adam Grant

Many parents believe that their actions will shape the success of their kids. But what if siblings actually matter more? Susan Dominus is a staff writer at the New York Times and the author of The Family Dynamic. In this episode, Susan and Adam discuss the psychology of achievement, the role siblings play in our accomplishments, and the relative impact of nature and nurture on excellence. Follow Host: Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: adamgrant.net/) Guest: Susan Dominus (Instagram: @suedominus | Website: https://english.yale.edu/people/full-part-time-lecturers/susan-dominus) Links The Family Dynamic: A Journey Into the Mystery of Sibling Success Subscribe to TED Instagram: @ted YouTube: @TED TikTok: @tedtoks LinkedIn: @ted-conferences Website: ted.com Podcasts: ted.com/podcasts The TED Audio Collective is a collection of podcasts for the curious. The TED Audio Collective videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organiz...). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com. 00:00 Intro 00:40 Studying successful siblings 02:25 Nature vs. nurture 06:28 Parents' impacts on kids 11:33 The sibling spillover effect 17:36 The impacts of birth order 20:25 Susan's parenting experience 22:57 How much do parents really matter? 24:11 Studying lower achievers 26:34 Takeaways from Susan's book 29:35 Lightning round

Susan DominusguestAdam Granthost

Jun 27, 202533mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: June 27, 2025
Duration: 33m
Channel: Re:Thinking with Adam Grant
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Many parents believe that their actions will shape the success of their kids. But what if siblings actually matter more? Susan Dominus is a staff writer at the New York Times and the author of The Family Dynamic. In this episode, Susan and Adam discuss the psychology of achievement, the role siblings play in our accomplishments, and the relative impact of nature and nurture on excellence. Follow Host: Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: adamgrant.net/) Guest: Susan Dominus (Instagram: @suedominus | Website: https://english.yale.edu/people/full-part-time-lecturers/susan-dominus) Links The Family Dynamic: A Journey Into the Mystery of Sibling Success Subscribe to TED Instagram: @ted YouTube: @TED TikTok: @tedtoks LinkedIn: @ted-conferences Website: ted.com Podcasts: ted.com/podcasts The TED Audio Collective is a collection of podcasts for the curious. The TED Audio Collective videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organiz...). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com. 00:00 Intro 00:40 Studying successful siblings 02:25 Nature vs. nurture 06:28 Parents' impacts on kids 11:33 The sibling spillover effect 17:36 The impacts of birth order 20:25 Susan's parenting experience 22:57 How much do parents really matter? 24:11 Studying lower achievers 26:34 Takeaways from Susan's book 29:35 Lightning round

SPEAKERS

Susan Dominus
guest
Journalist and author who reports on family dynamics, sibling success, and parenting research.
Adam Grant
host
Organizational psychologist and host of the podcast ReThinking with Adam Grant.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Re:Thinking with Adam Grant, featuring Susan Dominus and Adam Grant, What are the parenting effects on kids? | ReThinking with Adam Grant explores parenting matters less than you think; siblings and context matter more Twin and adoption research suggests many parental micro-choices (e.g., co-sleeping, rewards) have limited impact on long-term outcomes, though they can profoundly shape kids’ day-to-day experience.

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