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The Stability of Big-Five Personality Traits

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Author Info

  • Deborah Cobb-Clark

    () (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne; and Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA))

  • Stefanie Schurer

    (School of Economics and Finance, Victoria University of Wellington)

Abstract

We use a large, nationally-representative sample of working-age adults to demonstrate that personality (as measured by the Big Five) is stable over a four-year period. Average personality changes are small and do not vary substantially across age groups. Intra-individual personality change is generally unrelated to experiencing adverse life events and is unlikely to be economically meaningful. Like other non-cognitive traits, personality can be modeled as a stable input into many economic decisions.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne in its series Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series with number wp2011n21.

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Length: 13 pages
Date of creation: Aug 2011
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2011n21

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Postal: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 Australia
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Keywords: Non-cognitive skills; Big-Five personality traits; stability;

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References

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  1. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Schurer, Stefanie, 2011. "Two Economists’ Musings on the Stability of Locus of Control," IZA Discussion Papers 5630, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  2. Gerrit Mueller & Erik Plug, 2006. "Estimating the effect of personality on male and female earnings," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 60(1), pages 3-22, October.
  3. Heineck, Guido & Anger, Silke, 2010. "The Returns to Cognitive Abilities and Personality Traits in Germany," EconStor Open Access Articles, ZBW - German National Library of Economics.
  4. Mathilde Almlund & Angela Lee Duckworth & James J. Heckman & Tim D. Kautz, 2011. "Personality Psychology and Economics," NBER Working Papers 16822, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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Cited by:
  1. Deborah Cobb-Clark & Erdal Tekin, 2011. "Fathers and Youth's Delinquent Behavior," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2011n23, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
  2. Stefanie Schurer & Daniel Kuehnle & Anthony Scott & Terence Chai Cheng, 2012. "One Man's Blessing, Another Woman's Curse? Family Factors and the Gender-Earnings Gap of Doctors," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2012n24, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
  3. Proto, Eugenio & Rustichini, Aldo, 2012. "Life Satisfaction, Household Income and Personality Traits," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 85, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
  4. repec:ese:iserwp:2012-10 is not listed on IDEAS
  5. Eugenio Proto & Aldo Rustichini, 2012. "Life Satisfaction, Household Income and Personality Theory," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 453, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
  6. John, Katrin & Thomsen, Stephan L., 2012. "Heterogeneous Returns to Personality - The Role of Occupational Choice," Diskussionspapiere der Wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Leibniz Universität Hannover dp-495, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
  7. Schurer, Stefanie & Yong, Jongsay, 2012. "Personality, well-being and the marginal utility of income: What can we learn from random coefficient models?," Working Paper Series 2040, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Economics and Finance.
  8. Hanel, Barbara & Kalb, Guyonne & Scott, Anthony, 2012. "Nurses' Labour Supply Elasticities: The Importance of Accounting for Extensive Margins," IZA Discussion Papers 6573, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  9. Andreas Peichl & Nico Pestel & Sebastian Siegloch, 2011. "The Politicians' Wage Gap: Insights from German Members of Parliament," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 366, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
  10. Brown, Sarah & Taylor, Karl, 2011. "Household Finances and the 'Big Five' Personality Traits," IZA Discussion Papers 6191, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  11. Christopher R. Bollinger & Cheti Nicoletti & Stephen Pudney, 2012. "Two can live as cheaply as one... But three's a crowd," Discussion Papers 12/23, Department of Economics, University of York.
  12. Schurer, Stefanie & Kuehnle, Daniel & Scott, Anthony & Cheng, Terence Chai, 2012. "One Man's Blessing, Another Woman's Curse? Family Factors and the Gender-Earnings Gap of Doctors," IZA Discussion Papers 7017, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

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