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Family background, cognitive abilities, and personality as predictors of education and occupational attainment across two generations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Craig T. Nagoshi ,
Ronald C. Johnson  and
Kelly Ann M. Honbo
Craig T. Nagoshi
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe
Ronald C. Johnson
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii, Honolulu, USA
Kelly Ann M. Honbo
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii, Honolulu, USA
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Summary

This study reports on the relative influences of parental attainment and cognitive ability and subjects’ own cognitive ability, personality, and social attitudes on the educational and occupational attainments and incomes of 183 Generation 3 subjects of Caucasian ancestry and 186 of Japanese ancestry originally tested in 1972–76 in the Hawaii Family Study of Cognition (HFSC) and re-tested in 1987–88. In contrast to earlier reports of sex differences in the influence of Generation 2 attainment and on Generation 3 attainment when these offspring were younger, family background had a trivial influence and own cognitive ability had a substantial influence on educational attainment for both racial/ethnic groups and both sexes. For income, however, own cognitive ability was only a significant predictor for male subjects. Within-family correlational analyses also supported this sex difference in influences on attainment.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , April 1993 , pp. 259 - 276
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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