The rich get richer, the poor will become poorer, those who are born unlucky die unlucky. It’s not fate, it’s the so-called “Matthew Effect” — which a new study has also just proven in mice.
A new one, published this Thursday in the magazine Scienceexplores the profound influence of early life events on the development of individuality and success, highlighting in particular the role of “luck” in shaping these trajectories.
By experimenting on genetically identical male mice, researchers investigated how seemingly insignificant variations in early life experiences can lead to significant differences in outcomes in adulthood.
The study, conducted Matthew N. Zippleresearcher in the department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University, in the United States, revealed parallels between biological competition and social inequalities, making clear how fortuitous events can give rise to disparities throughout life — even among individuals with identical genetic makeups.
During the early stages of development, specific events can dictate the paths that individuals will follow throughout their lives, placing them on trajectories that can diverge quickly and sharply.
This phenomenon is particularly applicable in social animals such as ratswhere competition for resources and social position is a critical element of survival.
The study highlights that small differences in initial conditionswhether they result from the availability of resources, environmental factors or social interactions, can be amplified in a competitive context.
The investigation highlights the “Matthew Effect“, a widely recognized concept in sociology, which postulates that those who obtain initial advantages tend to accumulate advantages even greater over time.
This principle illustrates how small victories can snowballleading to additional disparities in an individual’s life circumstances, explains .
In the context of the study, it was found that male rats that had successful interactions at an early stage benefited from better access to resourcesbetter health and greater reproductive success, compounding its initial advantages.
The study led by Matthew Zipple (and we couldn’t find a better name for a scientist who studies the Matthew Effect) involved meticulous observation of growth patterns of male mice free-living animals raised in various microenvironments.
“We got competitive feedback loops“, explains Zipple, quoted by .
“We started with two genetically identical individuals, and through social competition, we obtained a divergence between animals that constantly gain — and which, therefore, have more chances of winning in the future — and those who constantly lose — and therefore, more likely to lose in the future.”
For example, explains Zipple, discover shelter early in life could be a small victory for a male rat. When another male rat finds this shelter, the first rat already knows the area, which increases the likelihood of winning a fight. Earn that interaction It’s important for the rest of their lives..
“When two males are competing with each other, the winner of that competition now has an advantage over the other male“, says Zipple. “They may have started the same way, but now, through some kind of chance-based interaction, one of them is now the winner, the other is the loser.”
The controlled conditions allowed researchers isolate variables specific factors that affect the development of these animals, thus allowing them to draw more definitive conclusions about the influences at play.
The findings of the study indicate that competitive contexts serve for exaggerate initial differenceseven trivial ones, creating a cascade effect that permanently alters the trajectories of those involved.
In contrast, the female rats studied did not present the same patterns of amplification of contingencies, especially because they do not come into direct competition for resources.
This divergence suggests that the Social dynamics differ fundamentally between the sexes in mammals, with males often facing a greater degree of competition that shapes their developmental outcomes more pronouncedly.
The researchers stress that unpredictability and uncontrollable experiences are critical factors of variation in life experiencessuggesting that even minimal differences can lead to substantial divergences over time.
The study also raises intriguing questions about how early experiences can influence the social hierarchy and the allocation of resources in broader ecological contexts.
In conclusion, it is neither a matter of fate nor a truth of La Palisse. It’s a universal scientific fact, explained by the Matthew Effect — to which even mice have to submit: those who are born lucky… are luckier.
