Over the past few decades, thousands of parents around the world believe they are raising indigo children who, due to their innate characteristics, represent a new version of humans. We checked whether there is scientific evidence to support this idea.

First formulated back in the 1970s, the concept of special children, whose birth marks a new era in human history, began to quickly gain popularity by the beginning of the 21st century. In 2003, it hit the screens came out the American film “Indigo” dedicated to this topic, and five years later appeared Russian painting of the same name. Popular concept successfully fit in and into modern esoteric, religious and pseudo-religious beliefs, which are united under the general name “new age” (“new era”).

The term “indigo children” appeared thanks to the American Nancy Ann Tapp. This woman, who called herself a parapsychologist, synesthete and psychic, published the brochure “Understanding Life through Colors” in 1982, which she republished as a book four years later. In this text, Tapp introduced the concept of vital color, that is, “the only color of the aura that remains constant for most people from cradle to grave.” Tapp said she noticed that in the late 1960s and early 1970s, many babies began to be born with an indigo aura, hence the term. Later, the idea was developed by Tapp's followers, including Barbara Bowers with the book “What Color is Your Aura? Personality Spectra for Understanding and Development" (1989), Pamala Ausley with the work "Colors of Life: What the Colors of Your Aura Say" (1991) and a team of authors with the monograph "Indigo Children: New Children Have Arrived" (1999). The last one by 2006 was released circulation of 250,000 copies.

How claim proponents of the concept, the indigo child, unlike ordinary children, has a new and unusual set of psychological characteristics and therefore demonstrates previously undocumented behavioral patterns. Although “there are several types of indigo children,” they have common characteristics:

They come into the world with a sense of superiority (and act accordingly)
They have a feeling that they “deserve to be here” and they do not understand how others do not share this opinion
Assessing their own importance is not a problem for them
They have problems with any kind of power or control that is not based on explanation and choice.
They won't just do certain things (like stand in line)
They are depressed in situations where rituals are important and creative thinking is not needed
They often see better ways to solve different problems, so they are considered unsuitable for any system
They don't seem social, at least not without other people around them.
They will not respond to educational measures based on guilt.
They are not shy about communicating what they need.

Nancy Ann Tapp - creator of the term "indigo children"
© Nancy Ann Tappe

The authors of the theory about indigo children believe that, due to their innate characteristics, such a child has a much greater level of empathy and curiosity. Although they are often considered strange, in fact, indigo children are distinguished by high intelligence, developed intuition and a clear understanding of their purpose. Moreover, such children have difficulty withstanding control and submitting to discipline. In a collective publication of 1999, parents of such children addressed Parenting Tips: Be aware that children are over-medicated, that schools do not provide enough opportunities for creativity, and that children need as much time and attention as possible.

If by definition an indigo child is a child with an aura of a certain color, it can be identified by analyzing the aura. At the moment there is no methodology that allows this to be done. For example, in his documentary film journalist Boris Sobolev showedthat devices sold in Russia, supposedly designed to measure aura, actually produce random results. The absence of either an energy field or special radiation around a person is the consolidated conclusion of skeptics and scientists who have never been able to confirm its existence under the conditions of a correct scientific experiment. People who spoke of the ability to see an aura were tested at least twice by the famous skeptic James Randi. Both tests showed no results confirming that people have an aura.

Why then do many parents claim that they are raising indigo children, although this is impossible to reliably determine? According to some psychologists, this connected with the Barnum effect, also known as the Forer effect. This phenomenon is that if you give a person a lengthy list of character traits and behaviors that can be applied to so many people, he will still believe that the list accurately describes his personality and thereby makes him exceptional. The effect will work in a similar way in relation to this person’s child.

Many experts also associate the use of the term "indigo children" with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This nervous disorder manifests itself as a combination of inattention and the inability to regulate one's emotions according to age. By calculations American scientists, about 6% of children suffer from ADHD, and the diagnosis of the disorder steel became active in the mid-1980s, just as Tapp and her associates were developing the theory of indigo children. David Cohen from Florida International University reported, that this concept offers parents a tempting opportunity: to consider their child special, not sick. This confirmed a 2011 study conducted at the University of Iowa. With American colleagues agree and Russian specialists.

Despite all the criticism from scientists, many supporters of the theory of indigo children are not going to reconsider their views. As is the case with people who believe in psychics and otherworldly phenomena, they usually claim that science is simply not yet able to understand what they believe. In a sense, the Harry Potter series of books became popular at the wrong time - the mother of the “indigo child” Margery Jackson spoke in an interview with The New York Times that "90% of the people in the world look like Muggles" (and her son probably looks like a Hogwarts student). In any case, there is currently no evidence that can scientifically substantiate for “Muggles” the existence of indigo children.