Do Personality Traits Affect Productivity? Evidence from the Lab

33 Pages Posted: 19 Jul 2014

See all articles by Maria Cubel

Maria Cubel

University of Barcelona - Department of Public Finance

Ana Nuevo-Chiquero

University of Barcelona

Santiago Sanchez-Pages

University of Barcelona; King’s College London

Marian Vidal-Fernandez

IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor; The University of Sydney - School of Economics

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Abstract

While survey data supports a strong relationship between personality and labor market outcomes, the exact mechanisms behind this association remain unexplored. In this paper, we take advantage of a controlled laboratory set-up to test whether this relationship operates through productivity, and isolate this mechanism from other channels such as bargaining ability or self-selection into jobs. Using a gender neutral real-effort task, we analyse the impact of the Big Five personality traits on performance. We find that more neurotic subjects perform worse, and that more conscientious individuals perform better. These findings are in line with previous survey studies and suggest that at least part of the effect of personality on labor market outcomes operates through productivity. In addition, we find evidence that gender and university major affect the impact of the Big Five personality traits on performance.

Keywords: Big-Five, personality traits, experiment, labour productivity, performance

JEL Classification: C91, D03, J3, M5

Suggested Citation

Cubel, Maria and Nuevo-Chiquero, Ana and Sanchez-Pages, Santiago and Vidal-Fernandez, Marian and Vidal-Fernandez, Marian, Do Personality Traits Affect Productivity? Evidence from the Lab. IZA Discussion Paper No. 8308, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2468464 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2468464

Maria Cubel (Contact Author)

University of Barcelona - Department of Public Finance ( email )

Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 585
Barcelona, 08007
Spain

Ana Nuevo-Chiquero

University of Barcelona ( email )

Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 585
Barcelona, 08007
Spain

Santiago Sanchez-Pages

University of Barcelona ( email )

Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 585
Barcelona, 08007
Spain

King’s College London ( email )

Strand
London, England WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

Marian Vidal-Fernandez

IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

The University of Sydney - School of Economics ( email )

Rm 370 Merewether (H04)
The University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006 2008
Australia

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