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SALT LAKE CITY — For parents with stubborn kids, life can feel at times like they're trying to tow a 747 with their teeth. A new study may give hope to tired parents working with stubbornness, showing a connection between adult success and childhood defiance.

A 40-year long study, spanning from 1968-2008, tracked children's behavior and how it correlates to career success as adults. The results of the study, published in Developmental Psychology, point to a correlation between strong behavioral traits in childhood and success later in life.

"The results revealed direct and indirect influences of student characteristics (responsible student, rule breaking and defiance of parental authority, and teacher-rated studiousness) across the lifespan on career success," the study states.

Children between the ages of 8 and 12 were monitored for certain behavior traits. Children who exhibited a more defiant and stubborn personality had a higher rate of career success later on as adults, the study found.

"We examined the influence of parental socioeconomic status (SES), childhood intelligence, and student characteristics and behaviors (inattentiveness, school entitlement, responsible student, sense of inferiority, impatience, pessimism, rule breaking and defiance of parental authority, and teacher-rated studiousness) on two important real-life outcomes (i.e., occupational success and income)," the authors of the study wrote.

Children who exhibited stubborn and defiant tendencies were more likely to have higher salaries as adults in the workforce than those of their more submissive peers, the study states.

There were 745 individuals participating in the study, 49 percent of whom were females, 51 percent of whom were male. The study ended in 2008 and the authors of the research have spent the last eight years compiling additional data and analyzing outcomes.

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