Accounting for measures of cognition, specific facets of personality are correlated with higher wages, playing different roles in different countries or for specific facets of the population. Conscientiousness plays an essential role in determining wages in the United States (Kern et al 2013), especially for women (Mueller and Plug 2006). Swedish men who lack leadership abilities have lower annual earnings than men with higher leadership scores (Lindqvist and Vestman 2011);<sup>2</sup> similar results were found in Argentina (Tetaz and Cruces 2009). Traits related to emotional stability (locus of control and self‐esteem) play an essential positive role in determining men’s wages in the United States (Muller and Plug 2006) but have a strong negative impact on wages in Germany. Agreeableness has been found to be a trait that is rewarded by the US labor market for both men and women (Mueller and Plug 2006), but that harms German women’s wages (Heineck and Anger 2010). Openness to experience is rewarded more among men in the United States than among women (Mueller and Plug 2006). Bassi et al. (2012), which bases their evidence on associations (correlations) rather than causal relationships, find that self‐efficacy<sup>3</sup> positively correlates with wages in Argentina and Chile. Grit, defined as perseverance and passion for long‐term goals, has great influence on professional success in the US (Duckworth et al. 2007).

A small literature finds that both cognitive abilities and personality traits have an important role in determining the participation of individuals in the labor market. Wichert and Pohlmeir (2010) and Glewwe, Huang and Park (2011) find that both cognitive and non‐cognitive skills affect labor supply patterns. When considering specific skills, Conscientiousness and Extraversion have a large and positive effect on labor force participation in the United States and Germany (Barrick and Mount 1991, Wichert and Pohlmeier 2010). In contrast, Neuroticism and Openness have a negative effect in Germany (Wichert and Pohlmeier 2010) while Agreeableness plays a weaker role, only affecting labor force participation of married women. In Argentina and Chile, decision‐making, leadership (cognitive), and self‐efficacy (non‐cognitive) skills are highly correlated with labor force participation in both countries (Bassi et al. 2012). As summarized by Wichert and Pohlmeier (2010), ignoring the effect of personality traits will overestimate the influence of education on labor participation, especially for women.

Few studies have also considered the role of different skills in the nature of work. A mixture of traits seems to matter both for becoming and succeeding as an entrepreneur (Levine and Rubinstein 2013). Individuals with high‐order cognitive skills (learning aptitudes) and high self‐ esteem in adolescence are more likely to become successful incorporated entrepreneurs in the United States (Levine and Rubinstein 2013). In the Netherlands, lower‐order cognitive skills (language and clerical abilities) predict wage employment, whereas mathematical and technical ability as well as extraversion in early childhood are more valuable for entrepreneurs (Hartog et al. 2010).

> 2 The data used in this study are drawn from a psychological assessment for the military.  The authors define “leadership” as the ability to function in the very demanding environment of armed combat: willingness to assume responsibility, independence, outgoing character, persistence, emotional stability, teamwork and power of initiative (Lindqvist and Vestman 2011).

> 3 Self‐efficacy refers to how individuals perceive their capability to organize their work and achieve their goals (Bassi et al. 2012, <u>p.93).</u>

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