Children who displayed aggressive behaviour at school, such as bullying or temper outbursts, are likely to earn more money in middle age, according to a five-decade study that upends the maxim that bullies do not prosper.

They are also more likely to have higher job satisfaction and be in more desirable jobs, say researchers from the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex.

The paper, published today, used data about almost 7,000 people born in 1970 whose lives have been tracked by the British Cohort Study. The research team examined data from primary school teachers who assessed the children’s social and emotional skills when they were 10 years old in 1980, and matched it to their lives at the age of 46 in 2016.

“We found that those children who teachers felt had problems with attention, peer relationships and emotional instability did end up earning less in the future, as we expected, but we were surprised to find a strong link between aggressive behaviour at school and higher earnings in later life,” said Prof Emilia Del Bono, one of the study’s authors.

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[–] CaptPretentious@lemmy.world 14 points 7 months ago

I mean that's part of it but I think something that's being overlooked is the overall mentality.

A bully who is used to getting their way and getting what they want is probably not going to have a hard time negotiating for higher pay when it comes to a job. They're also probably more likely to leave a job that's unsatisfactory. They're also going to have higher levels of confidence.

Meanwhile I remember when I was a kid being told to keep my head down, keep my nose clean, don't make waves, work hard to be rewarded and get ahead... And that's just not how you get ahead.

Just a theory.