New CAHRS ResearchLink - Do Nice Guys and Gals Really Finish Last? The Joint effects of Sex and Agreeableness on Income.

Does it pay more to create harmony or to rock the boat?

In this study Beth Livingston, ILR assistant professor examines the extent to which gender roles and agreeableness interact to determine wage. A main focus of this study was to see how expected gender roles influence the level to which agreeableness affects wage. For example, because women are expected to be high in agreeableness, will displaying disagreeableness in the workplace result in backlash for not conforming to their gender stereotype (Rudman & Fairchild, 2004), or will the positive wage effects of being low in agreeableness lead to higher earnings? This article covers four separate studies examining the dynamic between gender and agreeableness within the workplace.

Key Findings

The pay gap between agreeable and disagreeable males is significantly larger than the gap between agreeable and disagreeable females. That is, there is a “benefit” of being (moderately) disagreeable as a male, but this “benefit” is minimal for females. 

Employees are subject to gender stereotypes in the workplace. Males are expected to exhibit masculine qualities, including disagreeableness. Females are expected to exhibit feminine qualities, including agreeableness. When one gender defies such stereotypes, the employee can be perceived as deviant. 

Males who are agreeable are disadvantaged (vs. disagreeable males) for two reasons: first, agreeableness is negatively correlated with income; secondly, they defy the male stereotype of being
assertive and disagreeable.

To read the entire CAHRS ResearchLink click here.