An international skills study has found that New Zealanders who score higher for openness and agreeableness are less likely to be employed, diverging from results seen in many other OECD countries. The findings come from the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills, which assessed 160,000 adults across 31 nations and examined how five personality traits intersect with education and employment.
The OECD report said, “Among the five domains assessed, openness and emotional stability stand out as consistent, albeit moderate, predictors of educational attainment.” It noted that these traits relate to literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem-solving. “Individuals with high levels of openness use cognitive skills more frequently and are more likely to participate in adult learning,” the report said.
Agreeableness showed little influence on job prospects across the OECD, but New Zealand recorded the steepest negative link, particularly among adults with weaker literacy. Openness was also connected with lower employability in New Zealand, again most visible for those with low literacy.
Conscientiousness was more strongly linked to employment for low-literacy New Zealanders than any other trait measured in any country. The study found literacy itself had the “biggest average effect” on both employment and wages, including in New Zealand.
Personality traits had minimal influence on earnings, while educational attainment had the strongest impact. Occupation patterns were also noted: teachers and social and religious roles showed the highest agreeableness, while mechanics, builders and truck drivers scored lower.
New Zealand was one of the few countries where extraversion was not tied to job satisfaction, whereas emotional stability and literacy were. Emotional stability also had the strongest link to life satisfaction and self-reported health.
The results suggest New Zealand’s labour market rewards literacy and conscientious work habits more than social disposition, aligning with a performance-focused, skills-driven employment environment.