Personality and salary at early career: the mediating effect of emotional intelligence

Abstract

This paper examines the role of emotional intelligence (EI) as a mediator in the relationship between salary at early career and personality. The longitudinal data was collected from a selected sample of 130 university graduates, who were in the early stages of their professional careers. The results of a path analysis indicated that salary was indirectly predicted by personality traits, as measured by the Big Five model. Salary was predicted by neuroticism (both positively and negatively), extraversion (positively), and openness (positively) via the EI dimensions following the causal chain: perception, understanding and emotional regulation. Our findings have suggested the advantages of using EI measures as a complement to more dispositional measures, such as ability or personality measures, for personnel selection and people development in organizations and have provided real practice with clear suggestions for improving HRM.