Nerd or Homecoming King: Which one will make more money as an adult?

In earning power, kings rule. That's the conclusion of four scholars writing under the aegis of National Bureau of Economic Research (the entity that decides, officially, when recessions start and end).

Their paper, 'Popularity.' finds that the more friends you had in high school, the greater will be your earning power later on in life.

To arrive at that conclusion, the researchers dove into a body of data called the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), which, according to its website, is a long-term study of a random sample of 10,317 men and women who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957. A wide range of information about this group has been compiled from the inception of the study through 2008.

The scholars restricted their analysis to 4,330 white, male WLS respondents. "Our main variables of interest," they write, "are adolescent friendship ties and adult earnings."

To quantify those friendship ties (i.e., a respondent's popularity) they looked to see how many 'friendship nominations' a student had received. Apparently if you went to school in Wisconsin in the '50s, you could list the names of fellow students whom you considered to be your friends (a form of 'friending' long before anyone imagined Facebook).

The scholars determined which students in the sample had amassed the most nominations. They then looked at the earning power of these same students in adult life.

Their conclusion: The popular kids earned more than their unpopular peers. How much more? "The popularity premium is substantial," the authors write. "An increase in the stock of popularity, measured by an additional friendship nomination received in high school, is associated with about 2 percent higher wages 35 years later." That premium, they write, is roughly equivalent to the benefit enjoyed by students who gained another year of schooling.

full story HERE

Considering the popular kids tend to be rich or over middle class, this isn't really surprising

aardvark15 said:

Considering the popular kids tend to be rich or over middle class, this isn't really surprising

^ i was going to say. lots of time popularity is based on privilege.

This stinks. They don't even have to earn it, they just give it to 'em.

Timmy84 said:

This stinks. They don't even have to earn it, they just give it to 'em.

Why do you think these are the kids that usually ruin their lives with drugs

aardvark15 said:

Timmy84 said:

This stinks. They don't even have to earn it, they just give it to 'em.

Why do you think these are the kids that usually ruin their lives with drugs

Right. It's just plain nuts.

Well, the real world is a lot like high school, so it only stands to reason...

NDRU said:

Well, the real world is a lot like high school, so it only stands to reason...

And that's the problem.

Timmy84 said:

NDRU said:

Well, the real world is a lot like high school, so it only stands to reason...

And that's the problem.

Depends on the trade.

In some cases, it's more like a college fraternity.

Work hard, try your best, and always be honest and it won't matter if you were popular or not in high school.