Agency, individual and family resources as predictors of success in mid-adulthood: The importance of adolescents’ personality, education and family background

• In Event: Educational regimes and success in the life course: The Role of digital literacy, transnational competencies and personality in schooled societies

Proposal

In the second decade of life, young people are confronted with the challenge that they should "make the most out of their lives and successfully shape their path in life". Being successful is seen as a central point of orientation in the course of life. Success is documented by high income or high professional status. However, not all young people succeed. Therefore, the question becomes relevant under which contexts do young people become successful and what is their own contribution to success? Therefore we examine whether social background and individual characteristics from adolescence influence success in middle adulthood in Germany. Research has shown that educational and occupational attainments have a significant impact on success in middle adulthood. However, little is known about whether parental home or especially individual performance in school, aspirations, or even intelligence still influence success in middle adulthood.
We use data from the Pathways from Late Childhood to Adulthood (LifE) study for Germany. LifE is a longitudinal panel study of juveniles (1359), who were first interviewed in 1979 at the age of 12, then 5 times each year up to 1984. They were interviewed again in 2002, 2012 and 2024 at the age of 35, 45 and 57. We use regression models for women and men differently for the two dependent variables representing success: status and income.
We can show that at age 35 and even still at age 45, individual school performance still affects success as measured by income and status. However, the findings differ strongly by gender, class and the two success criteria. Men report higher income than women even when childhood factors and education were controlled. In general education was the strongest predictor of both later adult occupational status and later adult income, but mediated not all of the effects of childhood intelligence and parental socioeconomic background. For the age of 57, findings differ slightly.

Authors

• Wolfgang Gerhard Hans Lauterbach, University of Potsdam

• Steve Richard Entrich, Universität Zürich