As students grow older, their success depends on their perseverance.

Over the course of school life, personality traits such as persistence and curiosity (“non-cognitive skills”) become increasingly important for school success. The influence of cognitive characteristics (“intelligence”) on this success remains roughly the same throughout that period.

This is evidenced by a large British study that investigated the genetic basis of both cognitive and non-cognitive skills, and their impact on school success.

At around age nine, genetic predisposition to intelligence has a much greater influence on differences in school success. “But at around age 16, genetic predisposition to non-cognitive traits is as important for predicting school success as cognitive traits,” lead researcher Andrea Allegrini (University College London) summed up the most important conclusion of the study in press releaseThe genetic analyses were published this week in The nature of human behavior.

long term passion

Differences in intelligence are determined by about 50 percent genetically. That these differences in intelligence are important for school success has been known for many decades. The current research fits into a newer interest among geneticists in noncognitive factors, which are sometimes summarized as American concept of “gravel”: Perseverance and passion to achieve long-term goals.

Overall, differences in noncognitive skills are 30 to 50 percent heritable, slightly less than those for intelligence, the researchers wrote in their study this week. nature behaviorThe research is not about specific genes, but about hundreds of thousands of tiny differences in DNA that appear to be linked to certain traits. Some of these genetic factors overlap in their effects: they are important for intelligence but also for persistence, for example. But given the strong growth in the influence of noncognitive genetic factors on school success, while the influence of cognition remained the same, the researchers concluded that this overlap cannot play a major role here.

Researchers also describe an interaction between genetics and environment. Children who have a greater (partly genetic) drive to learn will often seek out or create environments that foster this drive, if only by participating in extracurriculars at school. Some of the current researchers, along with Dutch researchers, have found this before. High environmental impact of genetic skills (both cognitive and non-cognitive) from parents to their children, regardless of whether they have passed on those genetic dispositions or not.

Motivational skills

The now-published research used tests (both cognitive and non-cognitive) and DNA analyses of nearly 10,000 children from a large British twin project, who were followed for twenty years. Given all sorts of environmental factors (neighborhood, cultural environment, financial means, etc.), the socioeconomic status of families also has a significant impact on children’s school success. The researchers saw this effect in their results, too.

But they emphasize that the increasing influence of noncognitive genetic factors has been found across all levels of socioeconomic status, as has the relatively constant influence of genetic differences in intelligence. Precisely because this increasing influence of motivation and interest is independent of socioeconomic status, the researchers believe that stimulating such skills—which are also partly genetic—should play an important role in educational interventions. Especially in upper-school classrooms, where this influence has become increasingly important. In Press Release In the study, the other lead researcher, Margherita Malancini (Queen Mary University of London), explains it this way: “Our research challenges the long-held view that intelligence is the most important force behind school success. These are compelling indications that non-cognitive skills such as persistence, curiosity and willingness to learn are not only good predictors of success, but also increase in influence throughout the school years.”

As previously described by a Swedish researcher: Overview Given the influence of intelligence, socioeconomic status, and personality traits on school success, there is a complex interplay between these factors. Conscientious students learn more information in class simply because they pay more attention. This in turn boosts their vocabulary and language skills, which are an important part of intelligence. But a stronger ability to focus can also compensate for lower intelligence.

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