Today's Tidbit: To Be a Tiger Mom or Not to Be...

Asian Americans comprise 4% of the American population, but account for 25% of the students at top universities.

Moreover, their salaries are 25% higher than the American average—this despite the fact that white Americans working in such jobs as doctors, lawyers, and scientists have an average IQ of 110, while Chinese-Americans in such jobs have an average IQ of only 103.

If the difference is not IQ, then what?

One theory propounded in Baumeister's book Willpower is that non-Asian American parents coddle their children so as to foster high self-esteem, while Asian-American tiger moms promote goals and accomplishment.

References:

• "Willpower", 2011 book by R. F. Baumeister & J. Tierney, pages 194-8
• "The Development of Executive Functioning and Theory of Mind", 2006 article by M.A. Sabbagh, F. Xu, S.M. Carlson, L.J. Moses, and K. Lee in Psychological Science 17 (2006): 74-81
• Asian Americans: Achievement Beyond IQ, 1991 book by J.R. Flynn