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 individua ls interviewed as college freshmen in 1971 and then surveyed nine year s later. He finds that respondents' drive to achieve and the importanc e 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 inco me 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.