Is personality (and not raw intelligence) a better judge of lifetime success? According to a study, colleges and employers interested in predicting the success of applicants would do better to look at a student’s grades, which measure personality traits, more effectively than IQ tests.
The researchers used data from four studies that tested students and young adults in Europe and the US on grades, IQ, personality, and achievement. Three of the four studies followed the students over a decade or more, and examined how they did on a variety of measures of life outcomes, like wages, arrest rates, body mass index, and whether or not they voted. Together, the studies show personality and grades correlate more strongly with later measures of success and happiness than IQ.
None of the four studies perfectly demonstrates the results—not all measured the same traits, or had other flaws—but together they send a clear signal that grades are very predictive.
Employers and colleges have generally preferred standardized tests over grade point averages because grades can vary wildly by teacher and school, but GPA reflects other life skills the standardized tests can’t capture since it also measures your ability to do your school work. It measures your knowledge of the material but also things like how well you do at taking tests, going to class, doing homework.
As scholars isolate what the traits that predict success later in life, the next step is to develop measures that can teach and enhance them in schools. Ultimately, teaching life skills to students may be as important as teaching math and writing.
Almost as a postscript, children inherit intelligence from their mother, rather than their father, according to research.
This is partly because intelligence genes are carried on the X chromosome, which women have two of compared to men’s one. Yet on top of this, scientists have gathered evidence suggesting that certain genes passed on to children – including those relating to brain power – will only have an effect if they came from the mother.
Scientists found that mice genetically modified to have more maternal genes grew larger heads and larger brains – but smaller bodies – than mice genetically modified to have more paternal genes.
Aware that mice may differ from humans in this respect, scientists then interviewed over 12,000 young people aged between 14 and 22 from Glasgow, over a period of more than 20 years, and found the most significant trait shared by intelligent children is a clever mother.
However, this doesn’t mean clever mothers will necessarily bring up more intelligent children. Various studies published in recent years suggest that between 40% and 60% of a child’s intelligence is inherited genetically, with the rest dependent on other nurture-based factors such as the environment in which he or she is raised.
Just to be on the safe side, males should select intelligent females as mates. This is an advice I take to heart (based on my personal success story) and I am passing it on to my sons and grandson(s)! By Manny Palomar, PhD (EV Mail OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2, 2025 Issue)
