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The core traits of BILLIONAIRES: Scientists identify 5 key traits among the wealthy – so do YOU have what it takes to be among the wealthy elite?
- Psychologists investigated the relationship between wealth and personality
- The wealthy appeared to be more conscientious, but less open to experience
- People with less money were found to be more neurotic and extroverted
For five years now, viewers have been hooked on the mega-rich but totally miserable Roy family and their media empire on the hit HBO series Succession.
No one can be blamed for thinking they are narcissists caught up in a never-ending conflict over the money and power at stake.
But is this a true representation of billionaires?
Psychologists have studied the relationship between one’s wealth and personality traits to understand what it takes to be among the wealthy elite.
Their findings identify five key characteristics of the super rich – so do you have one?
For five years now, viewers have been hooked on the mega-rich but completely miserable Roy family and their media empire in the hit HBO series
The study, conducted by researchers from the Open University and the Norwegian School of Management, accounted for numerous factors in everyday life.
Just over 3,200 participants were asked about their valuable physical possessions, property, and other personal investments in the survey.
About 10.8 per cent of them earned £75,000 or more a year, while 23.7 per cent had a household income of less than £20,000.
These traits were then compared to the “Big Five” personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
Scientists found that conscientiousness was positively related to the level of wealth, meaning that the wealthy are more likely to have a stronger sense of responsibility.
Wealthy people were also much less neurotic and extroverted, with these traits linked to lower savings but more expensive goods.
Researchers believe this shows that the average person is much more impulsive – often buying overpriced items and making poor investment decisions.
“First, no one should infer that if you want to improve your financial situation, you have to change your personality,” said Professor Mark Fenton-O’Creevy, the study’s lead author. Psypost.
‘On the contrary, the insights from this research can help those who provide financial advice to tailor their advice to the personality of their clients.
‘So if a customer scores high on conscientiousness, for example, that helps.
“However, our results suggest that extroverted, agreeable customers who score low on conscientiousness may need extra support to save regularly and that extroverts are more prone to impulsive spending on physical items, decreasing investment capacity.”
Psychologists have studied the relationship between wealth and personality traits
Pleasantness was also negatively associated with saving money, which experts say is linked to buying over-the-top presents and spending too generously.
Those with more wealth were also considered to be less open to experiences, being ‘tied down’ to houses.
“Openness was negatively associated with property wealth, possibly because that kind of wealth “ties up” one for long periods of time and prevents the experimentation associated with being open to experience,” the authors wrote in the study, published in Financial planning review.
Still, Professor Fenton-O’Creevy claims this study is just a “snapshot,” adding to an already mixed picture of personalities and financial income.
“Further research could be useful to examine what contextual factors moderate these relationships, explaining potentially conflicting findings,” he wrote.
MailOnline has approached the authors for more information.