Most parents want their children to become successful. To see what types of adults their kids will grow up to be, parents should consider just asking their children's friends, as they may be able to predict what type of personality they will have when they grow up.
This is the conclusion researchers from Concordia University reached in a recent study. They also found that the personalities of children's peers may be able to predict how successful they will be in adulthood.
Researchers used data from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project, which began in 1976 and had first-, fourth- and seventh-graders complete peer evaluations of their classmates. For the next 20 years, researchers followed study participants closely so they could see what types of adults they became.
"We found the evaluations from the group of peers were much more closely associated with eventual adult outcomes than were their own personality perceptions from childhood," said Alexa Martin-Storey, who worked on the study. "This makes sense, since children are around their peers all day and behaviors like aggressiveness and likeability are extremely relevant in the school environment."
Of course, there are other ways for parents to learn what characteristics their children may possess in adulthood, such as having them take a personality test.
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