Life satisfaction and happiness during childhood can predict whether a child will be successful as an adult and earn high levels of income, a new study says.
Dr. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve from University College London and professor Andrew Oswald from University of Warwick included 15,000 adolescents to examine the importance of emotional well-being of children during their teenage years and their future success.
Participants who reported higher "satisfaction" or "positive effect" in life as a teen were found growing into wealthy adults, earning higher levels of income. The findings remained similar even for children growing up in the same family. Researchers found each one-point increase in life satisfaction at a young age adding to nearly $ 2,000 additional annual income later.
Results didn't alter even though the researchers included and compared other factors like education, genetic variation, IQ, self-esteem and physical health. Happiness was found to play an important role in increasing an individual's chances of earning a degree, getting employed or promoted easily, explaining the factors behind this occurrence, researchers said.
"These findings have important implications for academics, policy makers, and the general public," Dr. De Neve said in a news release. "For academics they reveal the strong possibility for reverse causality between income and happiness - a relationship that most have assumed unidirectional and causal. For policy makers, they highlight the importance of promoting general well-being (GWB), not just because happiness is what the general population aspires to (instead of GDP) but also for its economic impact.
"Perhaps most importantly, for the general public - and parents in particular - these findings show that the emotional well-being of children and adolescents is key to their future success, yet another reason to ensure we create emotionally healthy home environments," he added.
The findings of the study have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
