A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety - Moffitt et. al - 2011 - Article

Summary with the article: A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety - Moffitt et. al - 2011

To improve citizen's health and wealth, policy-makers are considering large-scale programs aimed at self-control. Self-control refers to the ability to delay gratification, control impulses, and modulate emotional expression. It is one of the earliest and most ubiquitous demands that society places on their children. However, one question remains to be answered before policy-makers can decide on actually implementing such programs. That is, whether self-control can be proven to be important for the health, wealth, and public safety of the population. This question is the main research question in the present study.

In this study, a cohort of 1,000 children was followed from birth to the age of 32. Throughout these years, the participants were examined on their level of self-control. SIn fact, success at many life tasks critically depends on children's mastery of such self-control, health (e.g., physical health index, level of depression, and so forth), wealth (e.g., SES, financial struggles, and so forth), and public safety (e.g., criminal conviction). The results indicate that childhood self-control predicts physical health, substance dependence, personal finances, and criminal offending outcomes according to a gradient of self-control. These effects could be disentangled from the participants' intelligence and social class, as well as from mistakes they made as adolescents. In addition, a cohort of 500 sibling-pairs was followed. The results from these sibling-pairs showed that the sibling with lower self-control had poorer outcomes, despite their shared background.

To conclude, self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety. Hence, interventions addressing self-control may reduce societal costs, save taxpayers money, and promote prosperity.