Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/58490 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 6470
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Although both economists and psychologists seek to identify determinants of heterogeneity in behavior, they use different concepts to capture them. In this review we first analyze the extent to which economic preferences and psychological concepts of personality - such as the Big Five and locus of control - are related. We analyze data from incentivized laboratory experiments and representative samples and find only low degrees of association between economic preferences and personality. We then regress life outcomes - such as labor market success, health status and life satisfaction - simultaneously on preference and personality measures. The analysis reveals that the two concepts are rather complementary when it comes to explaining heterogeneity in important life outcomes and behavior.
Subjects: 
risk preference
time preference
social preferences
locus of control
Big Five
JEL: 
C91
D01
D80
D90
I00
J30
J62
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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