THE PERSONALITY OF HIGH EARNING MBA'S IN BIG BUSINESS1

Summary AN effort was made to find personal qualifications that might be predictive of earnings in business. A follow-up by questionnaire five years after graduation was made for members of three MBA classes who had previously taken an eleven-instrument battery. Ninety percent responded. A comparison of the highest third and the lowest in terms of present compensation showed 13 differences at the .05 level of significance or higher among 55 predictor variables. At the .01 level were second year Graduate School of Business grade point average (GPA), Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) Personnel and Management Orientation scales, Guilford-Zimmerman Ascendance, Ghiselli's Decision Making and Initiative (from his Self-Description Inventory), and the Individual Background Survey. Hours of work and job satisfaction were greater for high earners.