Does niceness cause success?

[eclectic_boy]

This morning was a great Philly-alumni trip to the Bodyworlds exhibit at the Franklin Institute. Two days ago I got a phone call from an alum in the class of '43 who wanted to find out if there was anyone else coming from her area (Kennett Square, Delaware County) who she could offer a ride to. It turned out that I was already getting a ride in with Rachel Merz, so she asked if she could drive to Swat and ride in with us, which is what happened. Besides being so nice as to proactively call to try to arrange carpooling, she turned out to be nice and smart and nifty in lots of other ways. We talked about her almost getting kicked out of Swat for being so vocal about the no-African-Americans policy, about her running a summer reading program that got kids interested by giving them science fiction, Swat's emphasis on volunteerism, and lots of other things.

When she mentioned that one of her sons won a MacArthur grant, and later that her son-in-law won the Fields medal the question above hit me. What is the relationship between being a nice, outgoing, civic-minded person and ending up with successful kids and a (seemingly, from the time I spent with her) happy life? Which causes which, if either? Or do I just notice it when, on top of being so cool, a person turns out to have award-winning children?

Comments

[uncleamos]

They say that 85% of life is just showing up, but showing up doesn't do you any good if you turn out to be an asshole.

[skolem-hull.livejournal.com]

Does that mean that 85% of us aren't assholes?

[sammka.livejournal.com]

I think nice people are more likely to be caring parents who give their children the resources they need to do well.

Also, charming, nice people tend to develop a good set of contacts. Others respond well to them. That makes a difference in a lot of fields.