Psychologists in New Zealand say they have extracted from a 50-year study a secret to financial success that has nothing to do with academic results, professional contacts or work ethic. People who succeed in life, i.e. are rich and have a decent career, are those who have high emotional intelligence and can control themselves already in childhood.
Since 1972, psychologists in Dunedin, New Zealand, have followed the lives of scores of children and collected information on their growth, development and success from birth to adulthood. It was the best predictor of future financial and professional success in later life emotional intelligence and the ability to control one’s actions in childhood.
“All children lack self-control at times, but this summative measure ensured that children with low scores showed poor self-control in different situations and in different grades. The average level of self-control is much higher in girls than in boys and in children from wealthy families. Children with higher emotional intelligence also had significantly higher IQs,” say the authors from the University of Otago.
