Unique online experiments find success really does breed success

Success really does breed success - up to a point - researchers from UCL and Stony Brook University have found, following a series of unique on-line experiments. For decades, it has been observed that similar people experience divergent success trajectories, with some repeatedly succeeding and others repeatedly failing. Some suggest initial success can catalyze further achievements, creating a positive feedback loop, while others attribute a string of successes to inherent talent. To test these views the researchers conducted four experiments that measured the impact of experimental support - such as a donation or positive endorsement - on subsequent success. They found that success was more likely to follow initial assistance, with crowd-funders on kickstarter.com arbitrarily given an initial donation about twice as likely to receive further contributions as others who only received funding through standard routes. In the ideological arena, the granting of a dozen signatures to a randomly selected petition on change.org led to the project attracting another endorsement more often than petitions that did not receive the orchestrated support.  However, the magnitude of the support offered had little effect on the outcome.