Early family socioeconomic status and later leadership role occupancy: A multisource lifespan study

Abstract

We investigate the indirect effects of socioeconomic status, both at birth and at age 5, on the likelihood of holding a formal leadership position 26 years later via two sequential mechanisms: children's self-control at age 10 and adolescents' psychological well-being at age 16. We test this model using multisource data from the British Cohort Study, an ongoing research project studying individuals born in England, Scotland, and Wales in the week of April 5–11, 1970. The data were collected at five different time points, from birth through early adulthood. Results show that the cumulative effects of early socioeconomic status predict children's self-control at age 10, and self-control in turn predicts a higher likelihood of leadership role occupancy at age 26 via psychological well-being at age 16. The findings of the current study illustrate how a range of individual and family factors measured across the lifespan predict leadership role occupancy, with implications for better understanding how socioeconomic adversity and privilege enhance individuals' likelihood of becoming leaders early in their careers.