Fig 2 - uploaded by Han-Wu-Shuang Bao
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Chinese workers in more unique jobs hold more unique given names (but not more unique surnames) (Study 3). Job-level partial correlations and regression lines are displayed. Error bands indicate 95% CIs. Marginal group means were estimated by the R package emmeans, adjusted for all available demographics.
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Do personal names relate to career choice and career achievement? If so, how and why? We propose that uniqueness (vs. conformity), a dimension crucial for identity construction, may associate name (personal identity) with career (vocational identity). By testing a broad range of names and jobs, we identified a phenomenon—the name-job uniqueness fit...
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... analysis. First, we estimated marginal group means of name uniqueness for all the 18 job categories, while controlling for demographics. People in more unique jobs had more unique given names but not more unique surnames (Fig. 2). Next, we estimated marginal means of job uniqueness for > 1,000 given-name characters and 477 surnames, respectively, with demographics controlled as covariates. We also computed namelevel partial correlations (rname). People with more unique given names occupied more unique jobs, which was observed for either the 1,185 ...
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... This dimension involves the individual's satisfaction with his or her personal development, i.e., with the goals he or she has set, since career motivation reflects the individual's identity [126]. The connection between work and the individual demonstrates how the need to stand out motivates the development of personal identity [127]. Similar to tenacity, persistence and organisation are used to develop and accomplish goals [128]. ...
The professional success of graduates is closely linked to the value of university performance, perhaps much more so than other indicators. This study analyses the predictive and explanatory capacity of a model on the career success of university alumni in a developing country (Ecuador), which serves as empirical evidence on the subject; we examine the moderating effect of gender on the relationships between constructs in the model. We use a Hierarchical Component Model (HCM) of Partial Least Squares Structural Equations (PLS-SEM) and a permutation-based multigroup analysis for moderation. The used database comprises 444 records from a self-administered survey of graduates of the State Technical University of Quevedo (UTEQ)—Ecuador. On the findings, the model proposed has good explanatory and predictive power for career success. Objective success has a lower incidence of professional success (22% of the variance explained) than subjective success (78% of the variance explained). In none of the latent variable correlations in the model were gender differences between men and women found to be statistically significant. Finally, we also cover the study’s theoretical and practical implications.
... Meanwhile, others may view the individual with an unusual name as an unusual person (Mehrabian, 2001), which reinforces the self-conception of being distinctive through social interaction. These individuals are motivated to pursue extraordinary choices to differentiate themselves from others and to fulfill the self-efficacy of being special and unique (Bao et al., 2020;Kang et al., 2021;Zweigenhaft, 1977). For example, Zweigenhaft (1977) shows that individuals of the upper class with uncommon names are more likely to be successful in certain careers. ...
... S. S. Chen et al. (2014) document similar findings for R&D activities. CEOs with uncommon names are likely to have a greater need for uniqueness (Bao et al., 2020;Zweigenhaft, 1981), which leads to additional R&D investment in innovative projects that are outside a company's R&D investment opportunities and of low quality. This paper joins several strands of literature. ...
... Custodio, Bena et al. (2017) show that CEOs with a more general skill set promotes corporate innovation. However, existing studies have largely ignored the role played by the name of an individual, although a large body of psychological studies shows that a person's name can have a significant influence on personality development, self-conception, and decisions (Bao et al., 2020;Kang et al., 2021;Zweigenhaft, 1977). This study contributes to the literature by filling in this gap. ...
I study the relationship between a Chief Executive Officer (CEO)’s uncommon name and corporate innovation. Consistent with the view that individuals with uncommon names prefer being distinctive, I document a significant positive relationship between CEO name uncommonness and corporate innovation quantity but not quality. To mitigate endogeneity concerns, I use the death of the CEO as a plausible exogenous shock and find results are robust in the difference-in-differences setting. I further show that the impact on innovation output is concentrated in the areas that are well-known to the company, of low economic value, and have a low scientific impact. Overall, the findings presented in this paper suggests that the heightened innovation activities by uncommonly named CEO exacerbate the investment distortions.
... They have more unique individualistic characteristics (Varnum & Kitayama, 2011), and need stronger psychological adjustment capabilities (Twenge & Manis, 1998). However, if individuals with unique names are highly satisfied with their names, they can break through the possible negative effects of the unique names, and have a stronger sense of self-identity and more obvious individualistic tendencies, and thus gaining greater achievements (Bao et al., 2020;Su & Ren, 2015). As the leader of a management team, CEOs have made remarkable professional achievements. ...
... These unique personality traits can make individuals with unique names have different psychological characteristics and behaviours from ordinary people (Bell, 1984;Kalist & Lee, 2009;Sadowski et al., 1983). For example, the owner of a unique name is more likely to choose a unique occupation, and after engaging in a unique career, the positive correlation between name uniqueness and occupational achievement is more significant (Bao et al., 2020). ...
... On the other hand, some studies have also found that name uniqueness has a positive impact on individual psychological and behavioural decision-making. People with unique names are more creative (Sadowski et al., 1983), more popular (Zweigenhaft, 1981), and have higher career achievements in related fields (Bao et al., 2020;Sadowski et al., 1983). For example, surname uniqueness is significantly positively correlated with scholars' H-index (Bao et al., 2020); name uniqueness helps American male psychologists achieve higher career achievements, including more membership in APA chapters, being cited more in textbooks, and being invited more to review manuscripts, etc. (Sadowski et al., 1983). ...
Borrowed from the relevant research on the impact of name uniqueness on one’s personality, our study extends the research perspective to its impact on external auditors. Using the data of Chinese listed firms in 2009–2019, we find a significantly positive relationship between CEOs’ name uniqueness and audit fees. Further study shows that this influence could be explained by its impact on CEOs' personality traits, resulting in strategic deviance or increased audit effort, rather than its impact on auditors' first impression. The impact of CEOs’ name uniqueness on audit fees is more pronounced when CEOs’ characteristics are more susceptible to their name uniqueness, when companies are more likely to attract auditors’ attention, or when auditors are more likely to be affected by their uniqueness. This paper extends the impact of CEOs’ personality traits on audit fees, and expands the understanding of CEOs and audit decision-making.
Unique names have commonly been viewed as undesirable. However, our studies (total N = 6049) suggest the opposite: unique names are perceived as favourable to creativity in occupational contexts. Generally, people held a perception that unique-named individuals are more creative (albeit less likable) and therefore more suitable for jobs requiring greater creativity (Studies 1-2). Accordingly, participants tended to select candidates with more unique names for creative positions (Study 3) and recommend more unique names to workers in creative jobs for a name change (Study 4). Furthermore, real-world archival data revealed that artists (typical creative professions) tended to adopt more unique new names, which was replicated cross-culturally in American, British, and Chinese samples (Study 5), and that Chinese movie directors with more unique names received higher evaluations for the movies they directed (Study 6). Our findings demonstrate a novel form of name stereotype and its behavioural manifestations and real-world consequences.
