What factor do you think best predicts a child's future academic performance?

In 2005, Angela Duckworth and Martin E. P. Seligman conducted a study involving 140 children with an average age of 13 in the United States.

At the beginning of the study, the children, their teachers, and their parents all completed questionnaires measuring the children's self-discipline. The questionnaires examined factors such as:

• whether the child could follow instructions
• whether the child showed impulsive behaviour
• whether the child could delay immediate rewards in order to gain a larger reward later

The results showed that self-discipline successfully predicted students' academic performance, including their grades that year, their school attendance, and even their competitiveness for secondary school placement.

What About IQ?

The researchers then conducted another study to examine whether intelligence (IQ) could also predict academic outcomes.

This time, they recruited 164 children, also around 13 years old, and followed a similar research procedure. Participants again completed the self-discipline questionnaires, but in addition, all the children took an IQ test at the beginning of the study.

The results were similar to the first study. Self-discipline once again predicted students' future academic performance, and this time the researchers found that self-discipline was an even stronger predictor of academic success than IQ.

What Can Parents Do?

When children struggle academically, parents may often wonder:

• Is my child not practising enough?
• Is the teaching not effective?
• Is my child simply less intelligent?

However, another important possibility is that the child may need stronger self-discipline skills. Developing self-discipline can play a powerful role in supporting children's long-term academic success and personal growth. Parents can support the development of self-discipline in everyday life by:

• helping children learn delayed gratification, such as giving up a small immediate reward in order to receive a larger reward later
• encouraging self-management by setting goals and making plans together
• guiding children to follow a plan and complete tasks step by step
• using tools such as schedules or to-do lists to help children learn time management and prioritisation

Reference

Duckworth, A.L. & Seligman, M.E.P. (2005). Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents. Psychological Science, 16, 939-944.