Life Satisfaction, Personality and Sector of Employment

This research looks at the relationship between personality traits, life satisfaction, and sector of employment. Does the public sector, with its worker’s objective to serve the interest of other people, make for a more satisfactory life and which personality traits reinforce this? This research looks at a panel analysis for the years 1992, 2004, and 2011 using the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. Using personalities, life satisfaction, sector of employment of graduates of the Wisconsin high school cohort, and also looking at how they interact, it is found that altruistic personality traits do sometimes contribute to a more satisfactory life with some evidence that the public sector can contribute to this. I focus on 4 personality traits: altruism, laziness, trust, and confidence