Helpful spouses may help in career, too

Home life sounds a lot better with a conscientious spouse than with a jerk, doesn’t it? As it turns out, marrying a conscientious person might help you make more money, too.

A new study claims a connection between having a conscientious spouse and a higher likelihood of pay increases, promotions and higher satisfaction at work. The study from Washington University in St. Louis will be published in Psychological Science.

“Conscientious” people, according to researchers, follow rules, work hard and are reliable, predictable and able to control impulses. These are also the sort of people who make for great employees and co-workers.

The findings might have broader implications when it comes to picking partners, said Joshua Jackson, an assistant professor at Washington University.

“This might … suggest that people maybe should be attuned to these conscientious, more dorky, not-as-lively-or-exciting-because-they’re-rule-following people,” said Jackson, the study’s lead author.

The findings come from a five-year study of nearly 5,000 married people in Australia between the ages of 19 and 83. In three-fourths of the couples, both spouses work. Researchers measured personality traits and work status, and found a tie between people with more conscientious spouses — regardless of whether the spouse worked or not — and promotions, pay raises and job satisfaction.