These children crossed the 1980s and then one day, they became millionaires. Researchers followed their journey and understood what linked the wealthy.
It all started in 1972, in a maternity hospital in Dunedin, in New Zealand. A group of 1,037 babies will become, without knowing it, the center of one of the longest and richest scientific studies ever conducted on human development. Every two years are called. They come to go from test batteries, answer dozens of questions about their health, emotions, school career, family, friends, finances. We also question their loved ones, we scan their brain, we measure their tension, we follow their criminal record if necessary. In short, we note everything.
Over the years, scientists have then looked into those who, at 45, now live without major financial constraints. Those who have become owners have a solid heritage, a well -paid profession, a relatively stable life. By crossing tax, banking and professional data with other information collected since childhood, they therefore identified a small group. A few dozen people, no more. They come from different backgrounds, have experienced ups and downs, sometimes chaotic beginnings. Some had absent parents, others academic difficulties. But they have all reached a rare threshold today: that of sustainable economic comfort.
And by peeling the data, a common profile has distinguished itself. None of these adults necessarily had an exceptional IQ. They were not very first of the class. They were not necessarily from the districts favored or protected from adversity. But they all shared a very precise, detectable skill from childhood: an emotional intelligence above the average. The researchers first spotted it in the form of attitudes: these children more easily understood the emotions of others, knew how to regulate theirs, showed empathy, adapted their behavior according to the context. Not necessarily the wisest, nor the most obedient. But those who knew how to recognize when an adult was upset, who perceived sadness in a comrade, who could put words on their frustration or their fear.
Adolescents, they knew how to negotiate, ask for help, defuse a conflict. They were not always the most popular, but often those to whom we turned to speak. A form of social intelligence, certainly, but above all emotional. And this competence plays a crucial role. It avoids certain errors, managing stress, building solid relationships, learning failures without collapsing. It therefore allowed them to move forward, even without piston, even without model. Thus, today, when we talk a lot about performance, competition and excellence, this study recalls the importance of the development of emotions, during the first years of life, for future success.
