The Matthew Effect, Explained
How a single concept reveals the hidden pattern of accumulated advantage in every part of our lives.
Have you ever wondered why the bestselling author always seems to land the next big book deal? Or how a scientist who wins a Nobel Prize suddenly gets credit for almost everything their lab produces?
I read something a couple of days ago that finally gave me a name for this phenomenon. It’s a powerful, invisible principle at work, one that explains why advantages tend to accumulate for those who already have them.
It’s not just luck, and it’s more than just talent.
This phenomenon is called the Matthew Effect, and once you learn to see it, you’ll start noticing it everywhere.
What is the Matthew Effect?
The term was first coined in 1968 by sociologist Robert K. Merton. He named it after a surprisingly stark verse from the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament:
“For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
Put simply, the Matthew Effect describes the phenomenon of accumulated advantage. It’s the idea that a small initial edge can snowball into a much larger one over time. In countless systems, success doesn’t just breed success—it multiplies it. Merton first used it to describe how eminent scientists are more likely to receive credit for their work than lesser-known researchers, even if their work is collaborative or similar.
But this concept isn’t confined to the sociology of science. It’s a fundamental pattern that appears across remarkably different disciplines. It is, factually, a crossroad of crossroads!
Crossroad 1: Sociology
The starting point. Merton observed that eminent scientists received disproportionate credit for their work compared to lesser-known colleagues, even when their contributions were collaborative. This initial recognition granted them better funding, more talented students, and prestigious opportunities—a virtuous cycle that solidified their place at the top.
This is also where we see the “Matilda Effect,” a term coined by Margaret Rossiter, which describes the specific bias where female scientists’ contributions are wrongfully attributed to their male colleagues.
Crossroad 2: Sports
In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell famously illustrated the Matthew Effect using Canadian youth hockey leagues. He noticed that a huge number of professional players were born in January, February, and March. Why? Because the eligibility cutoff for age-class hockey is January 1st.
A boy who turns 10 on January 2nd is competing against boys who don’t turn 10 until later in the year. At that age, a few months of extra physical development provides a significant advantage in size and coordination. These slightly older, bigger kids are then selected for elite teams, where they receive superior coaching and far more practice time. What began as a tiny, arbitrary advantage compounds into a massive skill gap over time.
Crossroad 3: Education
Psychologist Keith Stanovich applied the concept to explain how children learn to read. His research showed that children who enter school with a slight edge in reading are given more advanced books and positive reinforcement. Because they find it rewarding, they read more often, which rapidly accelerates their vocabulary.
Meanwhile, children who struggle early on may come to see reading as a frustrating chore. They avoid it, fall further behind, and the gap between the two groups widens exponentially. Stanovich famously summarized it as “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” in the context of literacy.
Is the Matthew Effect an inescapable law? Does the person who starts ahead always win?
Crossroad 4: Technology and Algorithms
The digital world runs on the Matthew Effect. Think of a YouTube video or an Instagram post. Algorithms are designed to promote content that is already performing well. A video that gets a surge of views and likes in its first few hours is shown to a wider audience. This increased exposure leads to more views, which signals to the algorithm to promote it even more aggressively. This feedback loop is why content often either languishes in obscurity or goes viral—there is very little middle ground.
This is also a form of “preferential attachment,” a cornerstone of network theory where the most connected nodes (or popular creators) are the most likely to gain new connections (or followers).
Crossroad 5: Psychology
The Matthew Effect even operates inside our own minds. Neuroscientist Ian Robertson describes a phenomenon known as the “winner effect.” When we achieve a success—even a small one—it can re-wire our brain’s chemistry, increasing our confidence and appetite for risk. This psychological boost makes us more likely to succeed in our next endeavor, creating an upward spiral of achievement and self-assurance. The reverse is also true; a string of failures can diminish our confidence, leading to a downward spiral. It’s the internal monologue of accumulated advantage.
Crossroad 6: The Fable
So, is the Matthew Effect an inescapable law? Does the person who starts ahead always win? A 2,500-year-old fable, The Tortoise and the Hare, suggests the answer is no. In fact, the story serves as a perfect lesson on the Matthew Effect’s greatest vulnerability.
The Hare is “Advantage without Effort.” It perfectly represents the starting power of the Matthew Effect. His natural speed gives him an immediate, massive lead. But his advantage breeds complacency. He takes his lead for granted and stops putting in the work. He breaks the cycle of accumulated advantage.
The Tortoise is “Effort without Advantage.” It is the ultimate underdog, with no initial edge. His victory comes from a different, more powerful force: the compounding of consistent effort. His slow but steady progress eventually overtakes the talented but lazy competitor.
The fable teaches us that while the Matthew Effect describes a powerful tendency in the world, it is not destiny. Advantage is useless without continued effort. And for those of us starting without an advantage, consistency is the great equalizer. It is the one strategy that can create our own momentum, step by plodding step.
The Matthew Effect is not just an academic theory; it’s a lens for understanding the world. It reveals that success and failure are not always simple reflections of merit, but are often the result of initial advantages or disadvantages compounded over time.
It shows us why an arbitrary birth date can shape a sports career, why early childhood interventions are so critical, and why a single breakout success can define a career.
Most importantly, it challenges us to look for the starting points. How can we create our own small wins to kickstart a “winner effect”? Could you “attract” success by identifying the effect in your own domain?
Despite the answer, the first step would be to learn to see the pattern.
Thank you for reading. I went down this rabbit hole because the idea felt so true. For me, it was a new name for the power of compound interest, a reminder that any step you take in a direction ultimately gives you an edge as time goes by.