A British team, led by Indian-origin researcher Alita Nandi at Essex University, has found a link between a person's personality and salary -- in fact, nice people are paid nearly 1,500 pounds a year less than those who are more aggressive in the workplace, the Daily Mail reported.
The researchers came to the conclusion after looking at nearly 3,000 men aged between 24 and 64 living and working in Britain. They grouped them into five personality types -- depending on their openness to experience, conscientiousness, level of extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
The study found that those who were nice earned approximately six per cent less, which equated to an average of nearly 1,500 pounds a year.
The same pay deficit also applied to people with a high degree of neuroticism. Extroverts and those open to experience were paid the best, with those open to experience earning nine per cent more than those who were not open, a difference of 2,163 pounds a year.
The pay differences, except for openness to experience persist even after controlling for characteristics such as education, occupation, work experience, previous unemployment and training.
"While agreeableness is penalised in the labour market it may make a person more socially acceptable, increase their social networks and finally lead to better mental health and well-being," Dr Nandi said.