Last time, I discussed some aspects of the dark side of personality, in general. Today, I want to focus on the crux of a recent Wall Street Journal article that discussed my work: How Can the Dark Side Help People Get Ahead at Work? (I’ll focus on narcissism in this post, but I plan to focus on other dark personality traits, such as Machiavellianism, psychopathy, schizotypal personality, or paranoid personality in future posts.)
Remember that when I talk about the dark side of personality, I explicitly mean subclinical levels of these personality traits. That is, when I discuss narcissists on this blog, I’m not talking about individuals with a diagnosable Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I’m talking instead about individuals with a level of narcissism that isn’t generally dysfunctional, but that can cause some problems for the individual, especially when that person is in a difficult situation or under a lot of pressure.
To understand how narcissism can help people get ahead at work, we need to be clear about what narcissism is. Narcissists typically feel entitled—they deserve better outcomes than others. They also have a strong belief in their superiority—they truly believe they are better, more capable, more skilled, more charming, and more just than others. They are also arrogant and thus are likely to engage in grandiose symbolic gestures. Narcissists are dominant—they like to control social situations and other people. Some of these characteristics can directly aid advancement. For example, a degree of dominance is usually necessary to advance into leadership roles. To gain power, you usually first need to love and desire power for yourself. The narcissist’s characteristic dominance makes love and desire for power quite natural. In addition, narcissists (along with individuals with the other Dark Triad traits of psychopathy and Machiavellianism) are often described as outwardly attractive, in part because of their strong tendency to self-enhance. This means that narcissists are often positively accepted by others in short-term or limited interactions. One of the main ways people get hired—the job interview—is a short-term interaction. Not surprisingly, narcissists are very adept at doing the kinds of things that make interviewers see them as qualified to hire. These kinds of self-enhancing, dramatic, attention-grabbing behaviors on the part of leaders can be seen by followers as positive signs of charisma and confidence, Babiak and Hare note. (Although these authors explicitly describe psychopaths at work, these behaviors are also characteristic of narcissists in general.)
Beyond all this, we suspect that narcissism may have important motivational properties. For example, in our pilot study of military students, we were surprised to find a positive relationship between narcissism and indicators of leadership development. Co-author Peter Harms suggests the example of Napoleon to help understand what might be going on here: Napoleon was not known to be a particularly good student, but he may have had some strong narcissistic tendencies. When he decided to become the greatest military leader, he became an avid reader of works on military history and tactics. It’s not particularly surprising that narcissists, with their insatiable sense of superiority, are strongly driven to be the best at what they do. So, overall, narcissists have some advantages when it comes to getting ahead. They are motivated to seek positions of power and influence because these positions are consistent with their view of themselves as special and important. Furthermore, their behavior can create very positive impressions on others, who then view them as bold, charismatic leaders. Of course, narcissism isn’t called the “dark side” for nothing. In long-term interactions, other people often view the narcissist as hostile and arrogant. Extreme narcissistic behavior can potentially derail a successful career. In a future post, I’ll break down the negative aspects of narcissism in more detail, and try to help you navigate an effective path between reasonable self-confidence and self-enhancement, and dangerous levels of self-centeredness.
