Keeping a Positive Outlook

“There are certainly significant advantages for children growing up with parents who are well-educated and work in professional occupations, but these advantages are especially profound when children are self-confident,” said Judge. “Positive self-concept seems to act like an accelerant – the fuel to the fire – that leads the advantaged in our society to do better.”

For people who had a father who was an economist and mother who was a chemist, for example, those who were self-assured made $96,220 a year as opposed to $50,968 a year for those lacking in self-assurance, Judge said. 
     
For those whose father was a roofer and mother was a waitress, high levels of self-confidence meant earning $58,117 a year compared with $51,359 for those with low self-confidence, he said. 
    
“If your parents are doctors or lawyers, a positive self-concept matters a whole lot more than if your parents are roofers or employees in a fast-food restaurant,” Judge said.
    
The study used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a nationally representative sample of 12,686 men and women who were between 14 and 22 years old when first interviewed in 1979. They were 37 to 45 in 2002, when the income findings were collected. Participants were interviewed annually until 1994 and then every two years after that, he said. 
    
The study, which controlled for race and gender, evaluated mid-life income by examining parents’ education and occupational prestige, as well as participants’ educational levels, grade point averages, SAT scores and child poverty levels. For every category, the study found that having high self-esteem made a difference.
    
Self-confidence was measured by answers to such questions as “What happens to me is of my own doing,” “I feel I have a number of good qualities” and “When I make plans, I am almost certain to make them work.”
     
Motivation may be one reason for self-esteem’s importance, Judge said. “Research has shown that positive people who believe in themselves have more ambitious goals, so that even when they encounter adversity, they’re not as likely to internalize it,” he said.