Investigating core assumptions of the “American Dream”: Historical changes in how adolescents’ socioeconomic status, IQ, and GPA are related to key life outcomes in adulthood.

Abstract

The present study examines how historical changes in the U.S. socioeconomic environment in the 20th century may have affected core assumptions of the "American Dream." Specifically, the authors examined whether such changes modulated the extent to which adolescents' intelligence (IQ), their grade point average (GPA), and their parents' socioeconomic status (SES) could predict key life outcomes in adulthood about 20 years later. The data stemmed from two representative U.S. birth cohorts of 15-and 16-year-olds who were born in the early 1960s (N ϭ 3,040) and 1980s (N ϭ 3,524) and who participated in the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth (NLSY). Cohort differences were analyzed with respect to differences in average relations by means of multiple and logistic regression and for specific points in each outcome distribution by means of quantile regressions. In both cohorts, IQ, GPA, and parental SES predicted important educational, occupational, and health-related life-outcomes about 20 years later. Across historical time, the predictive utility of adolescent IQ and parental SES remained stable for the most part. Yet, the combined effects of social-ecological and socioeconomic changes may have increased the predictive utility (that is, the regression weights) of adolescent GPA for educational, occupational, and health outcomes over time for individuals who were born in the 1980s. Theoretical implications concerning adult development, aging, and late life inequality are discussed.

Two Forms of Social Inequality in Students' Socio-Emotional Skills: Do the Levels of Big Five Personality Traits and Their Associations With Academic Achievement Depend on Parental Socioeconomic Status?

“…Existing evidence, albeit sparse, provides qualified support for the idea that pSES, and personality traits are related. A recent meta-analysis by Ayoub et al ( 2018 ) found that higher pSES was linked to higher offspring Openness ( r = 0.14). Associations with other personality and temperament traits were small, leading these authors to conclude that Openness is the only personality trait that shows relevant pSES-related inequality.…”

“…In marked contrast to the links between pSES and cognitive ability and achievement, and the links between personality and achievement, the associations between pSES and offspring personality traits have been rarely directly investigated. As Ayoub et al ( 2018 , Study 1) noted, pSES–personality links were typically not the focus of the studies summarized in their recent meta-analysis. Instead, they were only incidentally reported, for example, because pSES or personality were included as covariates in analyses with a different substantive focus.…”

“…Notwithstanding this dearth, there are several more general theoretical arguments why pSES should be related to offspring personality traits (see also Ayoub et al, 2018 ). The first argument is that pSES shapes the developmental contexts in which children are raised and thereby also their personality.…”

“…However, whereas the links between personality and school achievement are well-established, these additional assumptions have received little research attention. Only few studies have examined the interplay of personality, parental socioeconomic status (pSES), and academic achievement (for an overview, see Ayoub et al, 2018 ).…”

A 10-Year Prospective Study of Socio-Professional and Psychological Outcomes in Students From High-Risk Schools Experiencing Academic Difficulty

“…These individuals were also considerably more likely to have been in academic difficulty at the baseline inclusion, as well as to have foreign-born parents who did not have higher-level professions. While the association of migrant status with academic difficulty is inconsistent ( Fuligni, 1997 ; Hagan et al, 2018 ), families with lower income are at greater risk for such problems ( Sirin, 2005 ; Chiu, 2007 ; Goodman et al, 2010 ; Najimi et al, 2013 ; Chittleborough et al, 2014 ; Dietrichson et al, 2017 ; Hasl et al, 2019 ). The broader role that socio-economic status plays may be both direct (through determining access to educational resources or materials, and providing means for academic support), or indirect through the lack of integration of parents into the school system where they would normally gain knowledge of its potential resources ( Sirin, 2005 ; Hill and Tyson, 2009 ; Vellymalay, 2012 ; Benner et al, 2016 ; Dietrichson et al, 2017 ).…”