Monday 24 August 2009

Does it pay to be nice?


Apparently being nice at work may not be such a good idea. Drs Nicoletti and Nandi at Essex University undertook a research project on three thousand working males between the ages of 24 – 64. The team classified the men into different personality types by using personality traits such as openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. What the study found was that men with extravert personalities who were ‘open to new experiences’ earned 6% more than their ‘nicer’ more introverted colleagues.
Does this suggest that men should stop being nice at work?
I suspect most people would prefer to be happy at work and have pleasant, agreeable colleagues.
I wonder if employers are more inclined to give pay rises to loud, opinionated or aggressive men because they would make a fuss and complain if they didn’t.
Nice men might be less inclined to complain and employers could exploit them, knowing they would be unlikely to cause trouble.

http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=News&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=xDefault&itemid=IPED23%20Aug%202009%2020%3A24%3A21%3A430

1 comment:

The Plashing Vole said...

How very depressing. I restrict bitterness and sarcasm to my blog, and try to be kind at work and with other people. Not because there might be some heavenly reward, but because it's right. It's certainly true that pushy, selfish people rise meteorically.