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Are There Unexplained Financial Rewards for the Snakes in Suits? A Labour Market Analysis of the Dark Triad of Personality

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  • Joanne Kathryn Lindley

Abstract

The Big Five personality test is used to generate psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism scores using a large UK individual level micro dataset. These scores show that high levels of narcissism and Machiavellianism can be associated with a higher incidence of employment in managerial occupations, while high levels of psychopathy are related to higher employment in the other services sector. The article finds a wage premium to Machiavellianism that is largest at the 90th percentile, over and above all productivity‐related explanations. The average hourly wage increase for a one‐point move up the Machiavellianism scale is around 2.1 per cent.

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  • Joanne Kathryn Lindley, 2018. "Are There Unexplained Financial Rewards for the Snakes in Suits? A Labour Market Analysis of the Dark Triad of Personality," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(4), pages 770-797, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:56:y:2018:i:4:p:770-797
    DOI: 10.1111/bjir.12269
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Baktash, Mehrzad B. & Jirjahn, Uwe, 2023. "Are Managers More Machiavellian than Other Employees?," IZA Discussion Papers 16361, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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