This Big 5 Personality Trait is the Best Predictor of a High Salary
Which one is it? Who benefits the most?
The latest psychological framework has narrowed down the personality categories to just five, easily remembered by the acronym O.C.E.A.N. (definitions are from Psychology Today).
- Openness to experience (includes aspects such as intellectual curiosity and creative imagination)
- Conscientiousness (organization, productiveness, responsibility)
- Extroversion (sociability, assertiveness; its opposite is Introversion)
- Agreeableness (compassion, respectfulness, trust in others)
- Neuroticism (tendencies toward anxiety and depression)
There is a lot to unpack here, our focus is on which personality trait impacts your salary the most, and how exactly benefits from it.
Be the Squeaky Wheel
We’ve all heard the aphorism of, “The squeaky wheel gets the oil,” most likely originating from the following poem from c. 1870.
I hate to be a kicker,
I always long for peace,
But the wheel that squeaks the loudest,
Is the one that gets the grease.
This poem is absolutely true, and we’ve experienced it in some form or fashion.
Regardless of merit or capability, there is always one person in a group who will talk or otherwise disrupt a meeting, who is also the one who gets the most time to voice their opinion.
Being a squeaky wheel matches the personality trait of Agreeableness.
Or rather, Disagreeableness.
And it’s this personality trait that will lead you to a much higher salary.
There are two parts to being disagreeable:
- The initial disagreement
- Follow-through
How Being Disagreeable Works
While we all like to be agreed with, having someone disagree with you stands out. When you speak up in a meeting and submit an idea that goes against everyone else, an impression of you starts to form.
Your bosses start to think the following:
- You have the courage to speak up, even in the face of mass rejection.
- You have innovative ideas and can see something that other can’t.
- You have a high level of self-esteem and can weather rejection.
Initially, our bosses are impressed by our candor and self-worth. These are positive traits of an employee who can withstand the stormy environment of disagreement and ride out the squall
The problem is when you don’t take the second step.
Follow-Through is King
Being disagreeable makes you attractive…for a moment. However, having a different opinion without results, or at least effort, gets really old really quick.
If you are going to bank on disagreeableness for the raise or promotion you’re gunning for, you also need to put in the work.
Money talks, and if your alternate way of doing something makes more money than the norm, then your bosses will heap praise on you like none other.
Even if you work your tail off but don’t have results, your bosses will see that you truly believe in what you think is right and will work to prove it right or wrong.
(The step beyond this is acknowledging failure, communicating results, then getting back to work making the company money.)
Don’t be all hat and no cattle.
Who Benefits the Most?
The workplace is as varied as our population, with people from every walk of life represented in many of our careers.
As with anything pertaining to personality, some demographic groups benefits most while others might actually get penalized.
Gender
Disagreeable men are overwhelmingly rewarded at a much higher level than disagreeable women.
This did not come as a surprise to me, but then I wondered why it wasn’t surprising. Digging into it a little, the research shows that this result is an evolutionary holdover, with humans wired to expect disagreeable behavior from men.
The salary gap between the agreeable and disagreeable is sizeable.
Researchers examined “agreeableness” using self-reported survey data and found that men who measured below average on agreeableness earned about 18% (!!) more — or $9,772 more annually — than nicer guys.
Disagreeable women, meanwhile, earned about 5% or $1,828 more than their agreeable counterparts.
Women were modestly rewarded (and that’s being generous), which shows that corporations aren’t outright penalizing women for being disagreeable (at least en masse), but there is a long way to go before any form of parity is achieved.
Marital Status
Not all men reap the same benefit from being disagreeable.
You might think that disagreeable single men would benefit the most from being disagreeable, but you would be wrong.
Married men benefit the most from being disagreeable.
Again, the bias is an evolutionary holdover, as married men have “proof” that they are desirable, as a mate has already chosen them. Marriage is an outward symbol of their overall value, which managers subconsciously equate to being valuable to the company.
Gender Roles
Not all married men reap the same benefit from being disagreeable.
Married men whose wives are in “traditional” (some might say subservient) wifely roles get paid significantly higher than those men in more egalitarian marriages.
The reasons for this are varied, but here are the biggest two.
- First, as with the others, humans are hardwired to view “traditional” relationships as more attractive, regardless of they are really are in our current world.
We expect men to be dominant, disagreeable, and loud.
We expect women to be meek, homely, and quiet.
When a married couple does not fit those categories, and we don’t train ourselves to look out for those biases, our subconscious drives the decision making and rewards the more traditional couple.
- Second, the subservient wife allows the husband more time to work on work, allowing him to make the company more money.
Sure, a husband in a co-equal marriage can work extra on a project, kick complete butt, and make a ton of money.
But can he do that on a regular basis.
Managers will appreciate the hard work, but they will also think that this will be a one-off effort, due to the fact that he now needs to go back to his normal level of marriage equality and spend more time at home.
Sexuality
Lastly, men in same-sex relationships reap none of these financial benefits, even if they fit every other description.
The research is unclear as to why, but the data is clear. Disagreeable gay men do not get the same salary increase as their heterosexual counterparts.
The Takeaway
Let me first say the reality described in this article sucks.
- Researchers will say that straight, married men with docile wives can increase their salary by being disagreeable at work.
- Reality will say that the people in power (straight, married mean) use their subjugated wives as unpaid, at-home project managers to advance their careers at the expense of everyone else.
That’s a horrible reality to live in, but reality, it is. We are better off for seeing the truth of what is actually going on.
In light of this reality, there are a couple of things we can do to both advance our own careers and help those who are not disagreeable, straight, married men with unemployed stay-at-home wives.
- If you do meet this criteria, then disagree away. Just don’t be exclusionary.
You can be as unique and against-the-grain as you like to advance your career, but don’t leave others behind just because you can.
If someone else disagrees first, back them up.
If someone else thinks you’re right to disagree, let them help.
- If you are a manager, take some time to look at your own bias in who you are financially rewarding.
Take some discrimination training.
Examine your personal preferences and see if they bleed through into the workplace.
If you find that there are some areas where you are rewarding the wrong type of people, don’t crucify yourself.
Use it as a learning experience, start fixing the issue, and move on.
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This article is for informational purposes only, it should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Not all information will be accurate. Consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.