隨著2016年夏季奧運會落下帷幕，我們很難不去關(guān)注許多運動員接下來的生活。很多獎牌獲得者都做出了退役的公開聲明。不太成功的選手沒有什么選擇的余地，只能繼續(xù)追求其他生活。而不管是贏是輸，即便是那些商業(yè)價值巨大的運動，也很少有奧運選手能夠長期依靠這項運動生活下去。

這些杰出的選手能否像在運動場一樣，在現(xiàn)代的經(jīng)濟社會中取得同樣的成功呢？

如果你認同“堅毅至上”的觀點，即人生成功與否，與毅力、堅韌和自制力的關(guān)系更大，而與先天的才華與智力關(guān)系較小，那么你會給出肯定的答案。確實，這些在奧運會轉(zhuǎn)播期間時刻展示的幕后情景，無不在推銷這樣一種觀念：那些取得優(yōu)勝的運動員總是會訓練得更久，更努力，他們更專注于讓自己變得更好，從而突破自己的極限。

如果真的如此，那么運動員借以贏得賽跑、球賽和對抗的品質(zhì)，將會幫助他們在職場的激烈競爭中同樣勝出。不過這一設(shè)想是否有事實的佐證呢？

這一問題已經(jīng)得到了研究——答案，暫時是肯定的。

首先，許多研究報告都發(fā)現(xiàn)，青少年時期練習體育運動的人更容易在之后的生活中展現(xiàn)出領(lǐng)導力、自信心、協(xié)作精神和奉獻精神，這些都是當今經(jīng)濟社會寶貴的特質(zhì)。

例如在2015年，期刊《領(lǐng)導力和組織研究》（Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies）上發(fā)表了一篇研究報告《工作與運動》（Sports at Work）。報告針對高中畢業(yè)后參軍的男性，分析了至少55年的縱向數(shù)據(jù)，并得出結(jié)論，那些曾在高中參加體育運動的選手明顯表現(xiàn)出了比非運動員更強的自信心、自尊心、領(lǐng)導力和利他行為。高中的運動選手還更可能奉獻自己的時間、向慈善組織捐贈，并有更大的概率在高管層謀得一席之地。

安永（Ernst & Young）和ESPNw委托彼得森研究所（Peterson Institute）在2015年發(fā)布的一份政策簡報中指出：“做過運動員的人，其年薪要比非運動員高出7%?！?/p>

康奈爾大學（Cornell University）研究員、《工作與運動》第一作者凱文·克里芬在一份電子郵件中寫道：“對父母而言，這份研究支持了他們投入時間和精力讓孩子參加青少年運動?！?/p>

對女孩而言，尤其應當如此。貝齊·史蒂文森是前美國勞工部（U.S. Department of Labor）首席經(jīng)濟學家，也是密歇根大學（University of Michigan）公共政策領(lǐng)域的教授。他在一篇報告里比較了《教育法第九篇修正案》（Title IX，這條法律禁止在聯(lián)邦政府資助的教育項目和活動中出現(xiàn)性別歧視）出臺前后的情況，文中指出，相比非運動員女性，曾在高中擔任過運動員的女性收入會更高。

史蒂文森的研究中，有一點值得稱道，它不僅證明了運動成功和生涯成功的聯(lián)系，還體現(xiàn)了一定程度的因果關(guān)系。畢竟，參加運動可能有助于提升寶貴的生活技能，但也可能只是這些技能（例如自信、領(lǐng)導力）有助于提高運動和生活兩方面的表現(xiàn)而已。但20世紀70年代《教育法第九篇修正案》的突然出臺——它禁止在聯(lián)邦政府出資贊助的教育機構(gòu)中存在性別歧視，極大提高了女生對校園運動的參與度——讓史蒂文森證明了情況屬于前者。某種程度上說，參與運動確實會讓人生更加成功。

女性收入提高的原因是什么？史蒂文森發(fā)現(xiàn)，參加運動能讓女性更有機會進入習慣由男性主導的高級技能崗位，這些崗位通常有更高的工資。史蒂文森寫道：“參加運動（而且在所有課外活動中只有參加運動）能與更高的收入掛鉤，這意味著運動與某種能力有著密切關(guān)系，這種能力不僅是收入的決定因素，而且也無法通過其他可以觀察到的變量進行測量?！?/p>

其他研究人員試圖梳理出更進一步的解釋。安永和ESPNw的報告中引用了《信心密碼》（The Confidence Code）一書的共同作者凱蒂·肯的觀點，指出了通過運動逐漸獲得的情緒復原能力帶來的益處：“參與競技體育不僅會帶來勝利的體驗，還會帶來失敗的經(jīng)歷。失敗的重要性幾乎和成功一樣。當你參加運動，表現(xiàn)糟糕的時候，你別無選擇，只能自己爬起來繼續(xù)。這個過程能夠讓你建立信心。對于商業(yè)和領(lǐng)導力而言，這是個極其有用的檢驗場?！?/p>

文·麥卡弗里在大學里曾是棒球運動員，他創(chuàng)立了Game Plan，幫助運動員在退役后尋找工作。他同意這種看法：“（女性運動員）習慣于在男性主導的環(huán)境中工作。她們不會害羞，知道如何晉升，她們十分倔強。運動員實際上擁有可遷移技能，他們有團隊合作的能力，管理時間的能力，以及履行承諾的能力。”

康奈爾大學的克里芬表示，精英運動員——例如代表大學或是參與國際比賽的那些人——是否會比最多代表高中參賽或是參加少兒比賽的運動員在職場表現(xiàn)更好，這一點目前尚未得到充分研究。

諷刺的是，實際上，我們有理由認為一些精英運動員會在職場處于劣勢。想要成為奧運會選手的運動員，很難在保持必要專注進行訓練的同時進行全職工作，更不用說在競爭激烈的領(lǐng)域打好職業(yè)生涯的基礎(chǔ)。實際上，許多人傾向于尋找兼職或是多份零工來維持生活，同時繼續(xù)參加比賽。

因此，他們在奧運會后的職業(yè)前景不一定光明。俄勒岡大學（University of Oregon）華沙體育營銷中心（Warsaw Sports Marketing Center）的克萊格·利昂在接受WIRED采訪時表示：“奧運選手決定退役時，已經(jīng)年近三十或三十出頭了，他們準備好了進入職場，但他們往往沒有任何工作經(jīng)驗?！?/p>

也就是說，大部分年輕運動員會在運動生涯開始影響職業(yè)生涯之前就掛靴退役。做出這樣的決定，也可以他們和父母得到安慰：他們在運動場上（和拼車）的時間并沒有浪費。克里芬表示：“下一次當父母感覺帶孩子往返參加訓練壓力很大時”，他們應該記住，“研究證實，讓孩子參加運動從長期來看是有益的”。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：嚴匡正

As the 2016 Summer Olympics wind down, it’s hard not to wonder what’s next for many of the athletes. Numerous medalists have spoken openly of retirement. Less successful competitors will have little choice but to move on to other pursuits. And win or lose, it’s the rare Olympian—even among those competing in commercially viable sports—who can hope to make a living playing their game over the long-term.

Are these extraordinary competitors likely to fare as well in the modern economy as they did on the athletic field?

You’d certainly think so if you buy into the?notion of “grit”—the idea that success in life has more to do with qualities like perseverance, stick-to-it-iveness, and self-control than with innate ones like talent and intelligence. Indeed, those ubiquitous behind-the-scenes vignettes sprinkled throughout the television coverage of the Olympics relentlessly sell the idea that winning athletes gain their edge by training a little longer, working a little harder, and dedicating themselves to greatness a little more single-mindedly.

If that’s the case, is stands to reason that many of the same qualities that enable athletes to win races, games, and meets would help them succeed at the proverbial rat race as well. But is the mythology borne out by the facts?

The question has been studied—and the answer is a tentative yes.

To start with, multiple reports have found that people who played sports in their youth are more likely than those who did not to exhibit leadership, confidence, collaboration, and dedication later in life—all valuable traits in today’s economy.

For example, a study called “Sports at Work,” published in the Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies?in 2015,?analyzed longitudinal data?on men who had served in the military and been out of high school for at least 55 years. It concluded, among other things, that those who participated in high school sports demonstrate significantly higher levels of self-confidence, self-respect, leadership, and prosocial behavior, when compared to non-athletes. The high school athletes were also more likely to volunteer time, donate to charitable organizations, and have jobs in upper management.

And a Peterson Institute policy brief commissioned by Ernst & Young and ESPNw for a 2015?report?found that “the annual wages of former athletes are on average about 7% higher than those of non-athletes.”

Says Kevin Kniffin, a Cornell University researcher and the lead author of “Sports at Work,”?wrote in an email:?“For parents, the research supports the investments of time and energy in their kids participating in youth sports.”

That may be especially true for girls. Women who were athletes in high school tend to earn more money than non-athletes, according to a?report?by Betsey Stevenson, a former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor and a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, that compared outcomes before and after the introduction of Title IX, the federal law that bans gender discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities.

One notable facet of Stevenson’s research is that it proved not just a correlation between athletic success and life success, but a degree of causation. It’s possible that playing sports actually helps develop valuable life skills, after all, but it also may be the case that those same skills (self-confidence, leadership, etc.) simply happen to boost performance in both spheres. But the sudden introduction in the 1970s of Title IX—which banned gender discrimination in federally-funded educational institutions and dramatically increased the participation of women in school sports—enabled Stevenson to establish the former. To some extent, playing sports actually does tend to lead to greater life success.

The reason for the wage boost among women? Stevenson found that participation in sports increased the chance that a women would enter traditionally male-dominated, high-skilled occupations that typically have higher wages. “The fact that athletic participation (and only athletic participation among all extra-curricular activities) is associated with higher wages suggests that sports have an especially strong correlation with a type of ability that is both an important determinant of wages and is not measured by other observable variables,” Stevenson writes.

Other researchers have tried to tease out further explanations. The E&Y/ESPNw report quotes Katty Kay, co-author of?The Confidence Code,pointing to the benefits of the emotional resilience built up through athletics: “Playing competitive sports embodies the experience not just of winning, but the experience of losing. The losing is almost as critical. When you’re playing sports and you do badly, you have no choice but to pick yourself up and carry on. That process really builds confidence. It’s an incredibly useful proving ground for business and leadership.”

Vin McCaffrey, a former college baseball player and the founder of?Game Plan, a company that helps athletes find employment off the field, agrees. “[Female athletes] are very used to working in a male-dominated environment. They’re not bashful, they know how to step up, they are self-assertive,” he says. “Athletes have really transferable skills: Ability to work with a team, ability to manage their time, ability to deliver on commitments.”

What has?not?yet been closely studied, according to Cornell’s Kniffen, is whether elite athletes—say, those who play in college or compete internationally—tend to perform better in the work world than whose sports careers peak in high school or Little League.

Ironically, in fact, there’s reason to think that some elite athletes face?disadvantages in the professional world. It’s very hard for would-be Olympians to simultaneously train with the necessary degree of single-mindedness and hold down a full-time job, let alone lay the groundwork for a career in a competitive field. Instead, many opt for a?part-time job?or?cobble together multiple jobs?to make ends meet and still compete.

As a result, their career prospects after the Games aren’t necessarily bountiful. “When Olympic athletes decide they’re done, and they’re in their late 20s or early 30s, they’re ready to hop into the working world. But their work experience is often little to none,” Craig Leon of the University of Oregon’s Warsaw Sports Marketing Center,?told WIRED.

That said, most young athletes will hang up their cleats long before their sports careers start to interfere with their professional aspirations. When they do, they and their parents can take comfort that the time spent on the playing field (and driving carpools) wasn’t wasted.“The next time a parent feels stressed shuttling to or from a child’s practice,” says Kniffin, they should keep in mind that “research reaffirms the value of that activity for the child’s long-term benefit.”