Kiwi extroverts are likelier to earn more - but there’s a curious twist

Kiwi researchers have investigated whether being more outgoing means bringing home more bread, to find there is indeed a link.

What does your pay packet say about your personality?

Kiwi researchers have investigated whether being more outgoing means bringing home more bread, to find there is indeed a link.

Yet they say it’s not completely clear-cut - and in an unexpected finding, workers who receive a pay bump one year can become less extroverted the next.

The study, based on four years of data from nearly 7000 Kiwi workers, stemmed from a casual discussion between its two University of Canterbury lead authors, Emeritus Professor Simon Kemp and Associate Professor Kumar Yogeeswaran.

“Our original interest was actually in whether disagreeable people earn more,” Kemp said.

After reading up on previous studies about the relationship between earnings and personality, they found their question was far from settled.

Most of those studies had focused on correlation, which Kemp stressed was much different to causation.

But a trove of information collected as part of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study, led by the University of Auckland’s Professor Chris Sibley, and which has been tracking thousands of Kiwis since 2009, at least offered data to take a deeper look.

Their analysis, which used a modelling approach to crunch data from 6824 working age adults, found those generally more extroverted indeed tended to earn more – potentially due to being in leadership roles and high-paying jobs.

At the same time, a gradual increase in extroversion in the same person over time was linked with a decrease in income.

Higher levels of neuroticism were also linked to lower income between individuals – but when pay increased, it often came with a rise in neuroticism in the following year.

Kemp stressed the results needed to be treated with caution.

“People who are more outgoing do earn more, but the difference isn’t huge,” he said.

“Being neurotic, or anxious, also tends to reduce your income, but the exact mechanisms for this are not clear.

“For example, if you are more anxious, you might tend to steer clear of stressful but high-paying jobs - but there are other explanations too.”

Other traits, such as agreeableness, openness, and conscientiousness, were also slightly associated with higher incomes between individuals.

Yet, if the same person becomes more agreeable, open, or conscientious over time, that didn’t necessarily lead to greater income.

The study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, was co-authored by Sibley, Dr Mona Yaghoubi and Dr Samantha Stronge.

Jamie Morton is a specialist in science and environmental reporting. He joined the Herald in 2011 and writes about everything from conservation and climate change to natural hazards and new technology.