Article reprinted from The Management Blog.

The old saying says that nice guys finish last, and I'm sure most of us could recount numerous examples of people we regard less than favourably achieving greatness they surely don't deserve.

New research from Cornell University adds weight to this argument, suggesting that nice guys earn £4,500 less than nasty ones.

The study, by Beth A Livingston of Cornell University, Timothy A Judge of the University of Notre Dame and Charlice Hurst of the University of Western Ontario, interviewed 9,000 people who entered the labour force in the past decade about their career, and gave personality tests which were then measured against income data.

The researchers identified six key elements of niceness:

• trust 
• straightforwardness
• compliance
• altruism
• modesty 
• tender-mindedness

All of which seems reasonable enough, and it's hard to imagine someone lacking those traits getting far in the workplace.

So why is niceness a disadvantage?

It's important to clarify what we mean by disagreeable, for it isn't being an arsehole.  What it does mean however that you forcibly defend your position during times of conflict.  Nicer people are more prone to compromising for the good of the group, whereas 'nastier' people tend to hold firm.  They're quite happy to fight for what they believe in.

From the research it was found that both women and agreeable men earnt quite a bit less than their disagreeable male colleagues, to the tune of around £4,500.

In a series of follow up studies these results were replicated.  They found that less agreeable men earnt 18% more (approx £6,000) than nice guys.  For women the penalty for niceness was only 5.47%, or £1,300.  So for men it's three times as valuable to be forceful at work than it is for their female colleagues.

What's behind these results?

A final experiment resembled a recruitment situation where people were asked to rate which candidates to put forward for a management position.  Candidates were given certain character traits, with some candidates described as much more trusting, altruistic and humble than others (ie more likeable).

Alarmingly, people with these traits were much less likely to be fast tracked into management, especially if they were male.

The researchers suggest this is down to our expectations of each gender.  Since we assume men will selfishly pursue their interests we tend to look down on those who do not, which leads to a “backlash” against unselfish and altruistic men. In other words, we expect the worst and punish the best.

All is not completely lost for the nice guys however.  Another study found that whilst nice guys might not get ahead in the office, niceness is officially the trait most desired by women in a partner.  So niceness might not make you rich, but it seems it will help you find love.