Arbeitspapier

Are Personality Traits Really Fixed and Does It Matter?

A nascent but burgeoning literature examines the importance of non-cognitive skills in determining success across many facets of life. The majority of these papers treat these skills as fixed traits for adults. We estimate the impact of a number of life events on the Big Five personality traits and locus of control. A subset of life events have large impacts on these non-cognitive skills, especially on locus of control. For some events, these impacts persist in the medium-run. We then demonstrate that treating personality traits as fixed can lead to biased estimates of their relationship with socioeconomic outcomes.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 8359

Classification
Wirtschaft
Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
Methodological Issues: General
Subject
personality
non-cognitive skills
life events
fixed traits

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Stillman, Steven
Velamuri, Malathi
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute (CESifo)
(where)
Munich
(when)
2020

Handle
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET

Data provider

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Object type

  • Arbeitspapier

Associated

  • Stillman, Steven
  • Velamuri, Malathi
  • Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute (CESifo)

Time of origin

  • 2020

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