Mood swings: Being nice at work doesn't always pay

A recent UK study found there’s no substitute for hard yakka when it comes to a juicy pay cheque. And our personality can be a big decider of salary.

The Institute of Employment Research looked at how our pay packets can be affected by five key characteristics – conscientiousness, extroversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and moodiness.

Several traits were found to boost salary. For instance, a woman can expect to earn around 2 percent more if she’s open to new experiences. For a man, the equivalent pay rise is about 3 percent.

Not surprisingly, the characteristic that matched up to the highest income levels was conscientiousness. The research showed that hard yards at work can boost your pay packet by up to 5 percent.

But the big surprise is that being nice can mean earning less. For women in particular, being agreeable at work can trim your income by around 4 percent (2 percent for men).

The researchers explain this penalty by saying agreeable workers may simply be too passive when it comes to negotiating their wage.

If smiles don’t cut the mustard at work, neither do scowls. An equally big salary killer is bestowing mood swings on fellow workers. This can shortchange your salary by as much as 4 percent.

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