Dunedin's 40-Year Study: Self-Control Beats IQ For Adult Success

The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health & Development Study has tracked 1,037 New Zealanders since 1972 across 1,000+ papers. The strongest childhood predictor of adult financial stability, health and life satisfaction isn't parental wealth, IQ or school grades — it's early self-regulation and emotional intelligence, measured as young as age 3.