Nice kids finish first, according to a new study published in JAMA Pediatrics. Low-income Montreal boys who were judged the most empathetic by their kindergarten teachers earned more money by their mid-30s than their classmates.
What’s interesting is who did the worst, writes columnist and teacher Esther Cepeda. Daydreamers earned less as adults than kids who were judged hyperactive or aggressive.
Research on how students succeed has long pointed to executive-functioning skills — self-regulation, planning, organization — as the basis for academic and eventual economic success.
But this is the first study, according to its authors, to make an explicit connection between so-called prosocial behaviors — like being a helper and a peacemaker — and higher lifetime earnings.
And, counterintuitively, it also shows in dollars and cents that the anti-social behaviors that classroom teachers find most alarming — hyperactivity, disobeying, talking back and fighting — aren’t the actions likeliest to impact long-term success.
Researchers weren’t surprised that inattentive children did poorly in life, but they were surprised that kindergarten bullies and cut-ups did so well, notes Cepeda.
Teachers like to believe day dreamers are creative types who will grow up to be the next Steve Jobs, she writes. But the quiet kids may need more help.
Another new study finds that pimples pay. “Having acne is strongly positively associated with overall grade point average in high school, grades in high-school English, history, math, and science, and the completion of a college degree.” In addition, acne is correlated with higher earnings for women.
Teens with acne participate less in sports and more in other activities, “suggesting a possible shift from physical to intellectual pursuits,” said Erik Nesson, a Ball State professor.
