Key Takeaways
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Intelligence isn't the only key to getting good grades. Perseverance and a genuine love of learning may also be important.
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The inheritance of certain personality traits appears to influence academic achievement
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The importance of these characteristics may increase as children get older.
TUESDAY, Aug. 27, 2024 (HealthDay News) — A new British study concludes that a child's intelligence isn't the only key to their academic success.
Instead, new genetic data suggests that in addition to intelligence, it may be “non-cognitive” factors — such as a determination to excel despite disabilities and an innate love of learning — that can propel children to the top of their classes.
“Our study calls into question the long-held assumption that intelligence is the main driver of academic achievement,” said Dr Margherita Marrancini, co-lead author of the study.
“We find compelling evidence that non-cognitive abilities such as grit, perseverance, academic interest and the value of learning are not only important predictors of success, but that their influence grows stronger over time,” added Maranchini, a senior lecturer in psychology at Queen Mary, University of London.
She and co-lead study author Dr. Andrea Allegrini of University College London published their findings on August 26th. Nature Human behavior.
The new study involved more than 10,000 British children whose academic achievement was tracked from age 7 to 16. At the same time, the London researchers examined each child's DNA, looking for genes known to be associated with certain non-cognitive abilities.
The team also compared the academic performance of identical and fraternal twins to see how shared genes affect academic achievement.
The researchers pooled the data to create a “polygenic” score that predicted how well each child would do in school.
“We find that genetic influences related to non-cognitive skills become increasingly important in predicting academic achievement over the school years – in fact, their influence almost doubles between the ages of 7 and 16,” Allegrini, a researcher at University College London, said in a Queen Mary news release. “By the end of compulsory education, genetic predispositions for non-cognitive skills were as important as genetic predispositions related to cognitive skills in predicting academic achievement.”
In other words, intelligence alone is not always enough to excel; drive, curiosity, and other traits also play a major role in academic success.
The researchers say some of this goes beyond genetics to also depend on home and school environment, and twin studies have provided support for that idea.
“While family-wide processes play an important role, we found that the increasing influence of non-cognitive genetics on academic achievement is also evident within families,” Allegrini explained. “This suggests that children may actively shape their own learning experiences based on their personality, temperament, and abilities, creating a feedback loop that reinforces their own strengths.”
New research suggests that schools need to focus on more than just how smart kids are to improve grades.
“Our education system has traditionally focused on developing cognitive skills,” Maranchini said, “and it's time to rebalance that emphasis and give equal importance to nurturing noncognitive skills. In doing so, we can create a more inclusive and effective learning environment for all students.”
More Information
Learn more about how Harvard Health can help motivate your child to learn.
Source: Queen Mary University, News Release, August 26, 202
What this means for you
Encouraging your child's desire and determination to learn is as important as their intelligence to their academic success.