Traits beyond intelligence may determine a person's ability to succeed, according to research. New findings, from analyzing data from more than 11,000 college students, bolster both early theories of guts and point to other attributes critical to long-term performance. The research team found that both cognitive and non-cognitive factors can predict long-term performance, with characteristics such as intelligence, guts and physical capacity each affecting a person's ability to succeed in different ways.
More specifically, the researchers found that different personal characteristics predict different outcomes. For example, guts are crucial. “The more guts you have, the less likely you are to fail during that very discouraging time. But during the four years of combined classroom time and physical training that follows, cognitive ability is the strongest predictor of academic grades. Finally, guts and physical ability play a greater role than cognitive ability in determining who will graduate in four years versus who would leave before that.
"This work shows us that guts are not the only determinant of success," said the researcher. “Yes, it's very important to help people stick with things when they're struggling, but it's not the best predictor of every aspect of success.”
