# **1. Introduction**

A large body of evidence highlights a link between the Big Five personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, extroversion, neuroticism and openness) and outcomes in the work place (Nyhus and Pons, 2005; Roberts et al., 2007; Borghans et al., 2008; Soto, 2019; Fletcher, 2013).<sup>1</sup> Conscientiousness, which relates to being punctual, hard working and responsible, is the focus of this paper. It has been widely recognized as a key trait for successful labor market outcomes (Alderotti et al., 2023; Cubel et al., 2016; Dudley et al., 2006).<sup>2</sup> It has long been thought that the Big Five personality traits are immutable in adulthood and not amenable to intervention efforts. However, recent theories in psychology propose that mindfulness and behavioral change techniques can help to shift beliefs and behaviors and modify skills to increase traits such as conscientiousness. This can be achieved by creating awareness about personality and its importance and by teaching behavior change skills (Allemand and Flückiger, 2017; Roberts et al., 2017).<sup>3</sup> Despite the evidence on conscientiousness as a predictor of positive labor market outcomes, there is a notable lack of evidence on whether training programs aimed at increasing conscientiousness have the potential to affect labor market outcomes in adulthood.

Whether interventions that target specific traits can be effective in improving labor market outcomes is important for policy. Between 230 million and 450 million new workers are expected to enter the labor force in Africa by 2030 (World Economic Forum, World Bank and African Development Bank, 2017; World Economic Forum, 2017). This places considerable pressure on young people to find and keep jobs, particularly in the presence of substantial search and matching frictions and the high rates of job turnover that have been documented in low-income countries (Abebe et al., 2021, 2020; Banerjee and Sequeira, 2020; Donovan et al., 2023). McKenzie (2021) highlights the potential for non-traditional training incorporating psychology and focusing on essential non-cognitive skills to improve labor market outcomes. A number of recent studies have demonstrated positive impacts of comprehensive skills training programs that incorporate soft-skills, for example, on productivity (Adhvaryu et al., 2023) or earnings (Chioda et al., 2021). Recent experimental evidence also shows promising effects of targeting specific skills, such as personal initiative (Chioda et al., 2021) and generalized self-efficacy (McKelway, 2021).

Providing training in conscientiousness could be particularly important for jobs that require

> 1In these studies, the Big Five personality traits have been found to be predictors of income, long-term unemployment, job stability, job performance, job satisfaction, extrinsic and intrinsic career success and financial security.

> 2Conscientiousness is a spectrum of constructs describing individual differences in the propensity to be self-controlled, responsible to others, hardworking, orderly, and rule abiding (Roberts et al. 2009; Roberts et al. 2014). It includes inter-related facets such as industriousness, organization, self-control, responsibility, persistence, decisiveness, conventionality, and punctuality.

> 3Initial evidence from high-income contexts shows that psychological interventions using smartphone apps can help people to change personality traits in desired directions in adulthood (Stieger et al., 2020, 2021).

2