scholarly journals Worker Personality: Another Skill Bias beyond Education in the Digital Age

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. e254-e294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eckhardt Bode ◽  
Ingrid Ott ◽  
Stephan Brunow ◽  
Alina Sorgner

Abstract We present empirical evidence suggesting that technological progress in the digital age will be biased not only with respect to skills acquired through education but additionally with respect to non-cognitive skills (personality). We measure the direction of technological change by estimated future digitalization probabilities of occupations, and non-cognitive skills by the Big Five personality traits from four German worker surveys. Even though we control for education and work experience, we find that workers who are more open to experience, emotionally more stable and less agreeable will tend to be less susceptible to digitalization. We also find that future technological progress may not continue to hollow out the middle class as much as it did in the recent past. These results suggest that education and labor market policies should put more emphasis on children’s and workers’ personalities to strengthen their labor market resilience in the digital age.

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-228
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Mohammed ◽  
Priscilla Twumasi Baffour ◽  
Wassiuw Abdul Rahaman

In an extensive review of wage determination papers, it is concluded that the standard demographic and human capital factors explain little of earning differentials. Consequently, there is a growing interest among economists to include non-cognitive skills measured by personality traits in recent empirical literature to explain variations in earnings. In a bid to contribute empirical evidence to this strand of literature, this study examines the associations between the Big-Five personality traits (i.e., agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, extraversion and neuroticism) and earnings, using the World Bank’s Skills towards Employment and Productivity (STEP) data on Ghana. The study employed regression techniques to estimate a series of semi-logarithmic wage equations that include demographic and human capital factors and the Big-Five personality traits to determine how important these factors are in explaining wage and self-employment earnings. Furthermore, the estimations of the wage equations are done separately for males and females to highlight any gender differences in the way personality traits contribute to earnings. Findings are largely consistent with the literature but uniquely demonstrate that in a power-distant culture like Ghana, where, traditionally, girl-child education has been relegated to the background, agreeable females, and not males, are rewarded in the formal wage employment labour market. However, in the informal self-employment labour market, conscientious males, and not females, are positively rewarded with higher earnings. These unique findings contribute to our understanding of the gender differences in the relative importance of non-cognitive skills in the formal and informal labour markets. JEL Codes: J31, J24


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 986-1003
Author(s):  
Edgar P. Alva

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the principal qualities that define a good worker for microenterprises of the trade sector according to the contemporary literature of the human capital and associated with the Big Five personality traits. It also determines the effect of those skills over the success of trade microenterprises in the context of a developing country. Design/methodology/approach A total of 393 owners/managers of microenterprises located in six trade zones of Lima district in Peru were involved in this study. They were randomly selected and asked to answer a survey of perceptions about the microenterprise’s performance and workers’ behavior. Findings The results demonstrate that workers that possess mainly non-cognitive skills would be considered as good workers for trade microenterprises. These skills are associated with four of the Big Five personality traits: extraversion, agreeableness, openness or autonomy and conscientiousness. Also, the results show that punctuality, honesty and assertiveness, associated with the traits such as extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness, are the principal non-cognitive skills that impact positively over microenterprises’ success. Research limitations/implications The performance of workers is only based on owners/managers’ perceptions. Practical implications The owners/managers’ role is important to help workers to develop the necessary skills that can contribute to the microenterprise. In that sense, if the direct contact that exists between them is leveraged, owners/managers could implement strategies such as mentoring to promote the personal and professional growth of their workers. Originality/value This study provides useful information about how specific non-cognitive skills of workers can contribute to the success of trade microenterprises in developing countries like Peru.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 276-285
Author(s):  
Carly A. Yadon ◽  
Timothy K. Daugherty

Abstract. Sensory gating allows an individual to filter out irrelevant sensory information from the environment, potentially freeing attentional resources for more complex tasks. Some work has demonstrated a relationship between auditory sensory gating and cognitive skills such as executive function, although the functional significance is not well understood. The relationship between sensory gating and personality dimensions has not been adequately explored. Participants completed a paired-tone sensory gating event-related potential (ERP) paradigm and the Big Five Inventory to assess personality characteristics. Participants with more robust P50 sensory gating reported a significantly greater degree of conscientiousness; conscientiousness (but not the other Big Five factors) predicted sensory gating ability. Longer ERP latencies were associated with participants being more conscientious (P50 component), more agreeable, and less neurotic (N100 component). A better understanding of the behavioral correlates of sensory gating will help elucidate the functional consequences of reduced sensory gating both in typical adults and clinical groups.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 236-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsushi Oshio ◽  
Shingo Abe ◽  
Pino Cutrone ◽  
Samuel D. Gosling

The Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI; Gosling, Rentfrow, & Swann, 2003 ) is a widely used very brief measure of the Big Five personality dimensions. Oshio, Abe, and Cutrone (2012) have developed a Japanese version of the TIPI (TIPI-J), which demonstrated acceptable levels of reliability and validity. Until now, all studies examining the validity of the TIPI-J have been conducted in the Japanese language; this reliance on a single language raises concerns about the instrument’s content validity because the instrument could demonstrate reliability (e.g., retest) and some forms of validity (e.g., convergent) but still not capture the full range of the dimensions as originally conceptualized in English. Therefore, to test the content validity of the Japanese TIPI with respect to the original Big Five formulation, we examine the convergence between scores on the TIPI-J and scores on the English-language Big Five Inventory (i.e., the BFI-E), an instrument specifically designed to optimize Big Five content coverage. Two-hundred and twenty-eight Japanese undergraduate students, who were all learning English, completed the two instruments. The results of correlation analyses and structural equation modeling demonstrate the theorized congruence between the TIPI-J and the BFI-E, supporting the content validity of the TIPI-J.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 124-132
Author(s):  
Marc-André Bédard ◽  
Yann Le Corff

Abstract. This replication and extension of DeYoung, Quilty, Peterson, and Gray’s (2014) study aimed to assess the unique variance of each of the 10 aspects of the Big Five personality traits ( DeYoung, Quilty, & Peterson, 2007 ) associated with intelligence and its dimensions. Personality aspects and intelligence were assessed in a sample of French-Canadian adults from real-life assessment settings ( n = 213). Results showed that the Intellect aspect was independently associated with g, verbal, and nonverbal intelligence while its counterpart Openness was independently related to verbal intelligence only, thus replicating the results of the original study. Independent associations were also found between Withdrawal, Industriousness and Assertiveness aspects and verbal intelligence, as well as between Withdrawal and Politeness aspects and nonverbal intelligence. Possible explanations for these associations are discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-93
Author(s):  
Jeffrey M. Cucina ◽  
Nicholas L. Vasilopoulos ◽  
Arwen H. DeCostanza

Abstract. Varimax rotated principal component scores (VRPCS) have previously been offered as a possible solution to the non-orthogonality of scores for the Big Five factors. However, few researchers have examined the reliability and validity of VRPCS. To address this gap, we use a lab study and a field study to investigate whether using VRPCS increase orthogonality, reliability, and criterion-related validity. Compared to the traditional unit-weighting scoring method, the use of VRPCS enhanced the reliability and discriminant validity of the Big Five factors, although there was little improvement in criterion-related validity. Results are discussed in terms of the benefit of using VRPCS instead of traditional unit-weighted sum scores.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 250-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cara A. Palmer ◽  
Meagan A. Ramsey ◽  
Jennifer N. Morey ◽  
Amy L. Gentzler

Abstract. Research suggests that sharing positive events with others is beneficial for well-being, yet little is known about how positive events are shared with others and who is most likely to share their positive events. The current study expanded on previous research by investigating how positive events are shared and individual differences in how people share these events. Participants (N = 251) reported on their likelihood to share positive events in three ways: capitalizing (sharing with close others), bragging (sharing with someone who may become jealous or upset), and mass-sharing (sharing with many people at once using communication technology) across a range of positive scenarios. Using cluster analysis, five meaningful profiles of sharing patterns emerged. These profiles were associated with gender, Big Five personality traits, narcissism, and empathy. Individuals who tended to brag when they shared their positive events were more likely to be men, reported less agreeableness, less conscientiousness, and less empathy, whereas those who tended to brag and mass-share reported the highest levels of narcissism. These results have important theoretical and practical implications for the growing body of research on sharing positive events.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Dionigi

Abstract. In recent years, both professional and volunteer clowns have become familiar in health settings. The clown represents a peculiar humorist’s character, strictly associated with the performer’s own personality. In this study, the Big Five personality traits (BFI) of 155 Italian clown doctors (130 volunteers and 25 professionals) were compared to published data for the normal population. This study highlighted specific differences between clown doctors and the general population: Clown doctors showed higher agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and extraversion, as well as lower neuroticism compared to other people. Moreover, specific differences emerged comparing volunteers and professionals: Professional clowns showed significantly lower in agreeableness compared to their unpaid colleagues. The results are also discussed with reference to previous studies conducted on groups of humorists. Clowns’ personalities showed some peculiarities that can help to explain the facility for their performances in the health setting and that are different than those of other groups of humorists.


2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H. Thomas ◽  
Cyndi R. Mcdaniel ◽  
Jennifer L. Burt ◽  
Kelley R. Wcisel

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