Research has examined long-held beliefs that success in school and career is due to more than just high intelligence. Non-cognitive skills are also important. The study is the first to systematically review the entire literature on the effects of non-cognitive skills in children aged 12 years or younger on later life outcomes, such as academic performance, and cognitive and language skills.
“Character traits such as attention, self-regulation and perseverance in childhood have been explored by psychologists, economists and epidemiologists, and some have been shown to influence later life outcomes,” says the study's senior author.
“There is a wide range of existing evidence supporting the role of non-cognitive skills and how they affect success later in life, but it is anything but consistent,” he says.
One of the study's co-authors said:“There is preliminary evidence from published studies that non-cognitive skills are associated with academic performance, psychosocial and cognitive and language outcomes, but cognitive skills are still important. ”
One of the strongest findings of their systematic review was that the quality of the evidence in this area is lower than desirable. Of more than 550 eligible studies, only about 40% were rated as being of adequate quality.
