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Personality traits and unemployment: Evidence from longitudinal data

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  • Viinikainen, Jutta
  • Kokko, Katja

Abstract

This study contributes to the literature on how personality is related to labour market success by providing evidence on the relationship between personality traits and unemployment. After accounting for reverse causality and measurement error, our results suggest that higher openness was associated with increased cumulative unemployment at the prime working age. It seems that this connection occurs because individuals with higher openness enter into unemployment spells more frequently – not because their unemployment spells would be particularly long.

Suggested Citation

  • Viinikainen, Jutta & Kokko, Katja, 2012. "Personality traits and unemployment: Evidence from longitudinal data," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1204-1222.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:33:y:2012:i:6:p:1204-1222
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2012.09.001
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    3. Judith Offerhaus, 2013. "The Type to Train?: Impacts of Personality Characteristics on Further Training Participation," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 531, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    4. Mareckova, Jana & Pohlmeier, Winfried, 2017. "Noncognitive Skills and Labor Market Outcomes: A Machine Learning Approach," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168195, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    5. Xu, Yilan & Beller, Andrea H. & Roberts, Brent W. & Brown, Jeffrey R., 2015. "Personality and young adult financial distress," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 90-100.
    6. DeLoach, Stephen B. & Kurt, Mark & Sansale, Rebecca, 2022. "Non-cognitive mismatch and occupational switching," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    7. Sciulli, Dario, 2016. "Adult employment probabilities of socially maladjusted children," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 9-22.
    8. Sarah D. Asebedo & Taufiq Hasan Quadria & Blake T. Gray & Yi Liu, 2022. "The Psychology of COVID-19 Economic Impact Payment Use," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 239-260, June.
    9. Eibich, Peter & Kanabar, Ricky & Plum, Alexander & Schmied, Julian, 2022. "In and out of unemployment—Labour market transitions and the role of testosterone," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    10. Luis Eduardo Arango & Gabriela Bonilla, 2015. "Human capital agglomeration and social returns to education in Colombia," Borradores de Economia 12788, Banco de la Republica.
    11. Gerards, Ruud & Welters, Riccardo, 2022. "Job search in the presence of a stressor: Does financial hardship change the effectiveness of job search?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    12. Andrea Morescalchi, 2021. "A new career in a new town. Job search methods and regional mobility of unemployed workers," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 20(2), pages 223-272, May.
    13. Anger, Silke & Camehl, Georg & Peter, Frauke, 2017. "Involuntary job loss and changes in personality traits," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 71-91.
    14. Sansale, Rebecca & DeLoach, Stephen B. & Kurt, Mark, 2019. "Unemployment duration and the personalities of young adults workers," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1-11.
    15. Jennifer Robson & Johanna Peetz, 2020. "Gender differences in financial knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors: Accounting for socioeconomic disparities and psychological traits," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 813-835, September.
    16. Vellekoop, Nathanaël, 2016. "The impact of long-run macroeconomic experiences on personality," SAFE Working Paper Series 142, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Personality; Unemployment; Stability of the Big Five personality traits; Reverse causality; Errors-in-variables bias;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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