A recent study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that students who are popular in high school are more financially successful later in life, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal Tuesday.

Popularity helps because “those who learn to play the game in high school are figuring out what they need to know to succeed when they enter the workplace,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

Popular students are typically strong communicators, which is a skill that would benefit them in the workplace. In order to enter certain fields nowadays, jobseekers must be able to network. Someone with strong interpersonal skills would probably be more successful at forming relationships with experts in his or her field than someone who does not have those skills. Strong communicators might also form better working relationships with their bosses and coworkers. Those relationships could lead to job promotions or simply a better work environment. Popular kids also tend to have high self-esteem, which is another trait employers find attractive. Someone who is confident in his or her skills comes across as more knowledgeable and professional than someone who lacks confidence. Confident employees would probably be rewarded with better job offers than timid employees.

However, popularity is fleeting. Just because someone was popular among his or her high school peers does not mean he or she will be popular among adults. Perhaps he or she lacks the composure or maturity that adult conversations require. Popularity also depends on factors other than personality — physical appearance and socio-economic status for instance. How can researchers make a statement about something so variable as popularity? The results of this study seem less convincing because there are so many factors that affect popularity and even more factors that affect success.

Not everyone who was popular in high school is going to be financially successful, just as not everyone who was unpopular is going to live a life of financial ruin. While it makes sense that someone with strong interpersonal skills would be more successful in or her career, those skills can be possessed by both popular and unpopular high schoolers.