Does success spawn greed or generosity? Longitudinal reciprocal relationships between career success and agentic and communal goal importance

This dissertation sought to shed light on the ongoing debate regarding whether success “corrupts” people or if successful individuals can use their resources to help others while also understanding the extent to which focusing on helping others versus success leads to different career outcomes. Both sides of the debate were partially correct in that success leads to positive changes in the importance individuals place on altruism and materialism, however, the effect was smaller than expected. Which goals an individual focuses on at the onset of their career were also found to be highly consequential for success—focusing on success begets success while concentrating on helping others led to lower future income. Given the impact early career success has on the increased desire to help others is small (and partially countered by an increased desire for success) and placing a high importance on helping others comes with a financial sacrifice, most individuals are best suited to focus on working for a cause they care about rather than pursuing a career strategy where they try to obtain success and use it to achieve good. These findings have implications for the earning to give movement in Effective Altruism as it tries to attract a broader audience.