RIT Study Links Career-Related Success to Self-Discipline

The results of a new survey on self-discipline, authored by a faculty member at Rochester Institute of Technology, have been published in the 2001 issue of Psychological Reports. Andrew DuBrin, professor of management at RIT’s College of Business, explored a key byproduct of self-discipline. He says the ability to apply oneself is considered to be essential to task accomplishment and career success, but the correlation between self-discipline and career success has yet to be empirically tested.

In DuBrin’s study, 325 working adults—from a wide variety of managerial, professional, sales, technical, and entrepreneurial positions—were administered a questionnaire. Responses about career success and goal accomplishments were based on self-perceptions.

"Analyses suggest that, for these working adults, self-discipline is associated with positive outcomes, such as higher education and income, self-rating of career success, and frequency of goal accomplishment," says DuBrin.

To conduct an interview with DuBrin, contact Paul Stella at RIT University News Services at (716) 475-4950 or pbscom@rit.edu.