What does our salary depend on – on the objective results of our work, on the efforts invested, on what impression we make … Or on how much we understand the people around us?
The ability to “see through people”, that is, to feel their emotions and motivations, is a very useful skill, including for our career. It not only helps us to interact more effectively with others: scientists have found that emotionally sensitive people receive higher salaries compared to those who are deprived of this talent.
This conclusion was made by scientists from the German University of Bonn*. They received information from the participants in the experiment about their work and salary levels. For each of the participants, feedback was received from their colleagues, characterizing them as employees. The researchers then showed participants a series of images and voice recordings and asked them to identify a person’s emotion from their voice or photo.
On average, 77% percent of the time, participants gave the correct answer, showing a good level of understanding of human emotions. People with more than 90% correct answers were rated as very insightful, while those with less than 60% were rated as less empathetic.
Comparing the data, the scientists noted that those who guessed emotions best of all received the highest ratings from colleagues and managers. Their income levels also surpassed those of the less astute participants in the experiment. Perhaps those who feel well the moods and desires of people unconsciously strive to make their bosses happier and more satisfied with the quality of their work? We can say that we can get a salary bonus for understanding **.
* T. Momm et al. «It pays to have an eye for emotions: Emotion recognition ability indirectly predicts annual income», Journal of Organizational Behavior, November 2014.
** «It Pays to Be Emotionally Intelligent», New York Magazine / Science of us, November 2014.