Darah Hansen recently reported in her Vancouver Sun blog that “nasty workers earn more money.” A new study published by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that the majority of employees who were unpleasant and ill mannered were in fact paid more than their friendlier coworkers. The experiment was conducted with a sample of around 10,000 workers in a variety of professions, salaries, and ages. Disagreeable men tended to earn around 18 percent more annually than the nicer male, whereas women earned around 5 percent more.

Picture credits to jillbremer.com

In my experiences throughout school and the workplace, I have not often observed that more agreeable colleagues were less successful or paid less. In fact, I believe that these people are more socially active, willing to compromise, and considerably more productive in group activities. However, I have noticed that these people sometimes appear to have difficulties expressing their views and are less assertive than others. The Wall Street Journal states that being highly agreeable does not conform “to expectations of ‘masculine behavior’.” People who are rude and unfriendly are also more likely to use unconventional means to artificially advance their career. It appears that the saying, “nice guys finish last,” might really be true.