The Effects of Tastes and Motivation on Individual Income

The author examines the relationship between income and certain tastes and motivation factors using data from a national sample of individuals interviewed as college freshmen in 1971 and then surveyed nine years later. He finds that respondents' drive to achieve and the importance they attached to financial success were positively related to annual income. The extent to which raising a family was valued as a goal did not affect income, at least for full-time workers. The estimated income effects of these tastes and motivation factors vary by gender. For example, a strong desire for financial well-being enhanced income more for men than for women.