When narcissists get assigned to leadership roles, they impress their
charges with authority and confidence. But they also underperform, a
new study finds.
One hundred fifty students were
divided into 50 three-person groups, with one person in each group
randomly assigned to be leader. Each group was supposed to choose, among
three candidates, who would be best for a specific assignment, after
considering several dozen personality traits and talents. (The
assignment: "secret agent"!) Researchers shared some candidate traits
with all members of the team, while other traits were provided to
individuals. The only way to choose the best candidate was to share
information, a task the leader facilitated.
Leaders took a personality test designed to gauge self-absorption,
responding to such questions as "I am going to be a great person."
Workers assigned to narcissistic leaders tended to report that they
were authoritative and effective. But, in fact, narcissist-led groups
shared information less effectively than the others and picked the wrong
candidate more often.
The study offers a cautionary tale to businesses, the authors said:
Narcissists are equipped to ace job interviews, but might not to live up
to expectations.
"Reality at Odds With Perceptions: Narcissistic
Leaders and Group Performance," Barbora Nevicka, Femke Ten Velden,
Annebel De Hoogh, and Annelies Van Vianen, Psychological Science
(forthcoming)
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