Pacific Standard reports two massive studies from Britain show that individuals rated as exhibiting self-control as children spend less time unemployed in later life. See the Psychological Science journal website for details. Individuals with low self-control experience more than three months of unemployment for every two months experienced by those with high self-control.
Personality traits like self-control are more genetic than learned, unfortunately. My reaction to these findings is the opposite of surprise, rather they seem intuitive. Bottom line: personality matters, therefore genetics matter a lot.
