25 surprising things that can make you successful
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Sure, we all know that an Ivy League education, a stint at a blue-chip firm, and stellar sales skills can help us get ahead. But it may surprise you just how many other, seemingly random variables can contribute to your professional success.
From the month you were born to your comedic timing, the weirdest quirks can affect how successful you'll ultimately be.
We combed through research on success to identify 25 surprising things that can influence your career trajectory. While some factors can be sought out, others are beyond your control.
This is an update of an article originally written by Alison Griswold.
Defiant, rule-breaking kids often grow up to earn higher salaries
AP Photo/Nati HarnikRecent research suggests there's a connection between rebelliousness in adolescence and earning a high income later in life.
In 1968, nearly 3,000 sixth-graders living in Luxembourg took intelligence tests and answered questions about their feelings toward school. Their teachers also filled out questionnaires about the students' behavior. At the time, researchers assessed the students' family background as well.
In 2008, researchers revisited this data in order to see which childhood traits predicted career success and income. They were able to get in touch with 745 of the students, who were now about 52 years old. Perhaps unsurprisingly, more studious kids (as rated by teachers and by the kids themselves) went on to land better jobs.
But the researchers were surprised to find one childhood characteristic — beyond IQ, parents' socioeconomic status, and the amount of education the students attained — that predicted higher adult income: rule-breaking and defiance of parental authority.
Parents' high expectations for their kids tend to matter more than income or assets for their child's success
Gary Cameron/ReutersUsing data from a national survey of 6,600 children born in 2001, University of California at Los Angeles professor Neal Halfon and his colleagues discovered that the expectations parents hold for their kids have a huge effect on attainment.
"Parents who saw college in their child's future seemed to manage their child toward that goal irrespective of their income and other assets," he said in a statement.
The finding came out in standardized tests: 57% of the kids who did the worst were expected to attend college by their parents, while 96% of the kids who did the best were expected to go to college.
That parents should keep their expectations high falls in line with another psych finding — the Pygmalion effect, which states "that what one person expects of another can come to serve as a self-fulfilling prophecy" — as well as what some teachers told Business Insider was most important for a child's success.
Being married is linked to higher salaries for men and lower salaries for women
ReutersA recent study finds that men experience a "marriage premium": Their salaries generally go up when they get hitched. Women, on the other hand, tend to see their salaries go down when they tie the knot.
Specifically, married men between 28 and 30 years old earn about $15,900 more per year in individual income compared to their single counterparts, while married men between 44 and 46 years old make $18,800 more.
And although these findings were not statistically significant, married women between 28 and 30 years old earn $1,349 less per year in individual income than their single counterparts, while married women between 44 and 46 years old earn $1,465 less.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider