In this discussion, guests Jay Belsky and Terrie Moffitt, both esteemed professors of human development and co-authors of The Origins of You, delve into how childhood experiences shape adult lives. They share fascinating insights from longitudinal studies on self-control and behavioral traits like aggressiveness and shyness. The conversation uncovers the lasting impact of childhood bullying, questions the assumptions stemming from the marshmallow experiment, and highlights the importance of early interventions in promoting positive outcomes.
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insights INSIGHT
Temperament and Adulthood
Shy children may marry later but have more stable marriages.
Early aggressiveness, if consistent across situations and sustained over time, can lead to negative adult outcomes.
insights INSIGHT
Changing Temperaments
Early childhood temperament doesn't determine adult outcomes.
Consistent support and discipline can help children modify problematic temperaments.
insights INSIGHT
Intervention Timing
Early interventions are most effective, but later interventions can still help.
Addressing issues like ADHD early can prevent problems from snowballing.
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In *The Origins of You*, Jay Belsky, Avshalom Caspi, Terrie Moffitt, and Richie Poulton share insights from decades of research on human development. They examine how childhood factors such as temperament, parenting, and environmental influences predict adult outcomes like personality, health, and success. The book highlights the complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors in shaping individual lives.
Ask an adult, especially if they're struggling in life, what caused them to end up the way they did, and they might cite certain factors from their childhood, like having a mother that was too cold.
The problem here, of course, is that memories change over time, and narratives about the past develop to fit one's current situation.
My guests today work on the kind of research that corrects this problem to figure out how aspects of childhood truly affect adulthood, by studying humans from the time they're babies through middle age and beyond. Their names are Jay Belsky and Terrie Moffitt, and they're professors of human development, and two of the four contributors to The Origins of You: How Childhood Shapes Later Life. To begin our conversation, Jay and Terrie discuss the longitudinal studies they and their colleagues have used to track people over decades of their lives, and how aggressiveness and shyness in childhood end up impacting adulthood. We then discuss the limitations of the famous marshmallow experiment, and what these more expansive longitudinal studies have shown about the importance of self-control in achieving a successful adulthood. We unpack whether the negative outcomes associated with being bullied in childhood are inevitable, who's most likely to become a bully, and who's most likely to be bullied (which as it turns out, isn't a matter of being fat or wearing glasses). We discuss how children who act out in childhood, but avoid making certain mistakes in adolescence, can still turn out okay, and why you probably shouldn't worry about children who were good kids, but get into a little trouble in their teen years. We also dig into the impact that childcare has on kids, and the role that genes play in development. We end our conversation with some allowance-related ideas for cultivating greater self-control in your kids.
The Art of Manliness 