Can Aggression Earn You a Bigger Paycheck?

Most Americans keep an eye open for ways to make some extra money. Sure, having a side gig delivering Big Macs for DoorDash will work, but a fifty-year study has uncovered another way to be prosperous.

Be a bully.

Photo by jill, jellidonut… whatever on flickr

The Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex has tracked data on 7,000 people born in 1970. They looked at these people as 10-year-olds and then when they were 46. They found that the ones who displayed aggressive behavior at school—those who were bullies or threw temper tantrums—were prone to earn more money as adults!

One of the professors behind this study, Emilia Del Bono, offered this conclusion:

“It’s possible that our classrooms are competitive places and that children adapt to win that competition with aggression, and then take that through to the workplace where they continue to compete aggressively for the best paid jobs. “ [Source]

To be fair, there is no evidence in the institute’s study about whether children who were aggressive continued to be so in adulthood. You do hope they grew out of it, but it’s not hard to see a connection. Kids who bully, throw tantrums, and insist of things their way can grow into adults who are more aggressive in beating out the competition for a job, going after another sale, and/or demanding more pay.

So, yeah, I guess if making more money is important to you, be aggressive. Push hard. Throw an occasional temper tantrum in the office.

But before you do, consider the cost.

What’s the point of more money if no one respects you? What’s the point of the extra prestige if you have no friends?

I recently finished The Robber Barons, a look at the men of the Gilded Age who made money hand over fist. They were ruthless. They took no prisoners in their pursuit of building their empires. And the wealthiest among them was John D. Rockefeller Sr.

Rockefeller was a shrewd businessman. In building his oil empire, he destroyed the lives and fortunes of so many others. Businesses were ruined. Countless men lost jobs. And Rockefeller was there to pick up the pieces and add to his empire. It’s no surprise that he was hated.

There was another side to Rockefeller. He was very religious. He taught a Sunday School class. He gave generously to his church. This is the second book about Rockefeller I’ve read, and it doesn’t appear that Rockefeller saw any discrepancy between his faith and his business dealings. He simply siloed his business life from his spiritual life.

Rockefeller was an absolute bully when it came to business, but at what cost? Even today, many people are willing to look the other way because of his philanthropy—and to his credit, he did become more and more generous as the years passed—but I have issues with the massive character gap in his life.

When Christ comes into a person’s life, He saves the whole person—not just the “religious” or spiritual part. We are called to be people of integrity—whole persons who are consistently the same through and through.

So, to those who think it’s OK to bully and be overly aggressive in your work and business dealings, consider the cost. Character matters, and for the follower of Jesus, Christ-centered and Christ-honoring character is not an option.

““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Matt. 7:21).

“For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good” (1 Pet. 2:15).

If godly character—an immersion in humility, love for God, and a love for others—means a smaller paycheck, embrace that. After all, a far greater reward awaits those who love and follow Christ wholeheartedly.