Professions, honesty, and income

Abstract

Professional choices influence valued outcomes such as income, life satisfaction, and social status. However, public opinion polls consistently illustrate that an individual's profession also influences how honest one is perceived to be, and people are motivated to see themselves as honest for many reasons. Why would people choose professions that do not confer them with the benefits of honesty? Survey data reveals honesty perceptions to positively correlate with a profession's conferred prestige (i.e., perceived value to society) and negatively correlate with a profession's annual income. The tradeoff between income and honesty perceptions suggests a wage differential mechanism-employees may maintain a positive self-concept through increased income which compensates for costs incurred by working in a profession characterized by low honesty.

Keywords: Honesty; Income; Prestige; Professions.