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Do recruiters select workers with different personality traits for different tasks? A discrete choice experiment

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  • Wehner, Caroline
  • de Grip, Andries
  • Pfeifer, Harald

Abstract

This paper explores whether firms recruit workers with different personality traits for different tasks. We conduct a discrete choice experiment among recruiters of 634 firms in Germany, asking recruiters to choose between job applicants who differ in seven characteristics: professional competence, the Big Five personality traits, and the prospective wage level. We find that all personality traits affect the hiring probability of the job applicant, with conscientiousness and agreeableness having the strongest positive effects. However, for analytical tasks, recruiters have a stronger preference for more open and conscientious applicants, while favoring more open, extraverted, and agreeable workers for interactive tasks.

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  • Wehner, Caroline & de Grip, Andries & Pfeifer, Harald, 2022. "Do recruiters select workers with different personality traits for different tasks? A discrete choice experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:78:y:2022:i:c:s092753712200077x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2022.102186
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    2. van Lent, Max, 2022. "Fathering Daughters and Personality," IZA Discussion Papers 15012, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Recruitment; Personality traits; Tasks; Discrete choice experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions

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