Narcissistic admiration and rivalry, Machiavellianism and willingness to engage in unethical pro-organisational behaviour (UPB)

<p id=C2>Narcissism is a personality trait characterized by an inflated self-image, a strong sense of psychological superiority and entitlement, and a low level of empathy. As narcissism has a substantial impact on employees’ work quality, happiness, satisfaction, and interpersonal relationships, employee narcissism has become an important topic of research among scholars and management practitioners, who have called for further research on the behavior of narcissistic employees in the process of interpersonal interaction. However, research on the impact of employee narcissism on prosocial behavior has reached inconsistent conclusions; thus, the mechanisms by which employee narcissism affects prosocial behavior need to be further explored. To fill this theoretical gap, we drew on the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Concept (NARC), and hypothesized that employees’ narcissistic admiration has a positive impact on prosocial behavior via relational approach motivation and that narcissistic rivalry has a negative impact on prosocial behavior via relational avoidance motivation. We further expected task interdependence, as an important situational factor, to directly influence employees’ expression of different narcissistic traits and motivation and their subsequent prosocial behavior. <break/>We tested these hypotheses in a field sample of 235 employee-colleague dyads using a time-lag research design. The data were collected by administering the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Scale, the Approach and Avoidance Scale, the Task Interdependence Scale, and the Prosocial Behavior Scale. At Time 1, we collected the employees’ demographic variables (gender, age, and educational background) and asked them to rate their narcissistic admiration, narcissistic rivalry, and task interdependence. At Time 2 (approximately one month after Time 1), the employees rated their relational approach motivation and relational avoidance motivation, and their colleagues were asked to rate these employees’ prosocial behavior. We applied confirmatory factor analysis, descriptive statistics and correlation analysis, path analysis, and bootstrap methods using SPSS 24.0 and Mplus 7.4 to analyze the data from the 235 employee-colleague pairs. <break/>Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to examine the discriminant validity of the key variables (i.e., narcissistic admiration, narcissistic rivalry, task interdependence, relational approach motivation, relational avoidance motivation, and prosocial behavior), and the results confirmed discriminant validity. Next, we used path and bootstrap analyses to test the hypotheses. The results were as follows: (1) narcissistic admiration had a significant positive impact on employees’ prosocial behavior; (2) narcissistic rivalry had a significant negative impact on employees’ prosocial behavior; (3) relational approach motivation mediated the relationship between narcissistic admiration and prosocial behavior, however, relational avoidance motivation didn’t mediate the relationship between narcissistic rivalry and prosocial behavior; and (4) task interdependence played a moderating role in the relationship between narcissistic admiration and relational approach motivation and further moderated the indirect effect of narcissistic admiration on employees’ prosocial behavior via relational approach motivation. <break/>This study makes several contributions to the literature on narcissism. First, it explores the double-edged effects of narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry on employees’ prosocial behavior, thereby helping scholars better understand these traits. It also explains the inconsistent results of previous studies on the relationship between employee narcissism and prosocial behavior. Second, based on the concepts of narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry, this study explores the mechanisms of both traits on employees’ prosocial behavior. Although the mediating role of relational avoidance motivation was not significant, this gives us another important insight that future researches can try to independently examine the influence effects, mechanisms, and boundary conditions of narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry without being overly tied to the NARC framework. Third, by integrating trait activation theory, this study investigates the important role of a situational factor (i.e., task interdependence) in the relationships between narcissistic admiration, narcissistic rivalry, and employees’ prosocial behavior, which can help organizational managers better understand the roles of narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry.

Narcissists often attain leadership positions, but at the same time do not care for others and often engage in unethical behaviors. We therefore explored the role of leader narcissism as an antecedent of abusive supervision, a form of unethical leadership. We based our study on the narcissistic admiration and rivalry concept (NARC) and proposed a direct positive effect of leaders’ narcissistic rivalry—the maladaptive narcissism dimension—on abusive supervision. In line with trait activation and threatened egotism theory, we also proposed a moderated mediation assuming that leaders high in narcissistic rivalry would be particularly prone to showing abusive supervision in reaction to followers’ supervisor-directed deviance, as this form of follower behavior would threaten their self-esteem. We conducted a field study with leader–follower dyads (Study 1) and an experimental vignette study with leaders (Study 2). Leaders’ narcissistic rivalry was positively related to abusive supervision (intentions) in both studies. This effect was independent of followers’ supervisor-directed deviance and leaders’ perceived self-esteem threat. We discuss our findings in light of the NARC, as well as threatened egotism theory, and offer directions for future research. Finally, we make practical recommendations for organizations.

Narcissism has been widely studied as a multifaceted personality construct comprising both narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry, yet little is known about how these distinct subdimensions relate to self‐esteem across cultural contexts. Drawing upon the person–environment fit framework, the present study examined the associations between narcissistic admiration, narcissistic rivalry, and self‐esteem among 51,070 participants from 57 countries or regions. Multilevel modeling revealed that narcissistic admiration was consistently and positively associated with self‐esteem, whereas narcissistic rivalry was negatively associated with self‐esteem. These associations remained robust after controlling for individual‐level covariates (age, gender, subjective social class, residential area) and country‐level indicators (GDP per capita, Gini index). Exploratory analyses, including contrast tests and relative weight analyses, confirmed that narcissistic admiration had a significantly stronger association with self‐esteem than narcissistic rivalry. Specifically, narcissistic admiration accounted for 92.4% of the explained variance in self‐esteem, whereas narcissistic rivalry accounted for only 7.6%. Importantly, we found a significant cross‐level interaction: the positive association between narcissistic admiration and self‐esteem was stronger in more individualistic societies, but no such moderation effect was observed for narcissistic rivalry. These findings highlight the cultural contingency of narcissism's psychological implications and underscore the value of distinguishing between narcissistic subdimensions in cross‐cultural personality research.

How do narcissists get what they want from their romantic partners? The connections that narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry have with influence strategies

The present studies examined the possibility that narcissistic admiration (assertive self-enhancement and self-promotion) and narcissistic rivalry (self-protection and self-defense) would have divergent associations with benefit-provisioning and cost-inflicting mate retention behaviors. Study 1 ( N = 625) revealed that narcissistic admiration was associated with benefit-provisioning behaviors, whereas narcissistic rivalry was associated with cost-inflicting behaviors. Study 2 ( N = 349) showed that narcissistic admiration was positively associated with cost-inflicting behaviors when levels of suspicious jealousy were relatively high. Study 3 ( N = 373) revealed that both narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry had positive indirect associations with cost-inflicting behaviors through the dominance-based orientation toward status. However, these aspects of narcissism had divergent indirect associations with cost-inflicting behaviors through the prestige-based orientation such that this indirect association was negative for narcissistic admiration but positive for narcissistic rivalry. These results demonstrate the similarities and important differences between narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry with regard to the use of particular mate retention behaviors.

The aim of this study is to investigate the unique contributions of two distinct dimensions of leaders' narcissism-admiration and rivalry-to nurses' organizational citizenship behavior towards the leader and the mediating role of nurses' challenge appraisal and hindrance appraisal based on the transactional stress theory. Leaders' narcissism is widespread in hospitals, so whether nurses will show organizational citizenship behavior to narcissistic leaders is related to the harmony and stability of the team. Thus, clarifying the positive or negative relationship between leaders' narcissism and nurses' organizational citizenship behavior towards leaders has become a priority. A cross-sectional survey was conducted at two-time points with 280 Chinese nurses. We used the structural equation model to analyze our data. We found that leaders' narcissistic admiration was positively correlated with nurses' organizational citizenship behavior towards the leader; however, leaders' narcissistic rivalry was negatively correlated with nurses' organizational citizenship behavior towards the leader. Furthermore, mediation analyses revealed that leaders' narcissistic admiration had a significant indirect effect on nurses' organizational citizenship behavior towards leaders via challenge appraisal, and leaders' narcissistic rivalry had a significant indirect effect on nurses' organizational citizenship behavior towards leaders via hindrance appraisal. By introducing two dimensions of narcissistic admiration and rivalry, we resolve previous contradictory findings about the relationship between leader narcissism and organizational citizenship behavior towards the leader. Implications for Nursing Management. Nursing managers need to understand that there are both positive and negative relationships between leaders' narcissism and nurses' organizational citizenship behavior towards the leader, and we can promote the positive effects of leaders' narcissistic admiration and curb the negative consequences of leaders' narcissistic rivalry by taking some specific steps, such as promoting the loving cooperative atmosphere and punishing disruptive behaviors.

The frustrated narcissist: Intelligence may reduce the chances of developing narcissistic rivalry

Untangling the associations that narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry have with agency, communion, and romantic commitment

The relationships between narcissistic admiration, rivalry, and interpersonal trust in adolescents: The mediating effect of ostracism experience

The purpose of the present research was to examine the connections that narcissistic admiration (an agentic form of narcissism characterized by assertive self-enhancement and self-promotion) and narcissistic rivalry (an antagonistic form of narcissism characterized by self-protection and self-defense) had with perceived power in the context of romantic relationships. The results of Study 1 ( N = 375) revealed that narcissistic admiration had a positive association with perceived power, whereas narcissistic rivalry was not associated with perceived power. In Study 2 ( N = 352), we extended the findings from Study 1 by examining whether perceived power moderated the associations that narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry had with romantic relationship functioning. The results revealed that narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry had unique and divergent associations with romantic relationship functioning. Further, the results showed that perceived power moderated the association that narcissistic rivalry had with romantic relationship functioning. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for understanding the connection between narcissism and perceived power in romantic relationships.

Previous research has shown that leaders’ narcissistic rivalry is positively associated with abusive supervision. However, it remains unclear when and how leaders high in narcissistic rivalry show abusive supervision. Building on trait activation theory and the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Concept (NARC), we assumed that leaders high in narcissistic rivalry particularly show abusive supervision in reaction to follower workplace deviance due to their tendency to devaluate others. We argued that leaders’ injury initiation motives explain why leaders high in narcissistic rivalry react with abusive supervision when experiencing organization-directed or supervisor-directed deviance. However, this should not be the case for coworker-directed deviance, as leaders high in narcissistic rivalry are less likely to find such behavior violates their internal norms. We conducted two studies. In the first study, we provided participants with experimental vignettes of follower workplace deviance. In the second study, we used a mixed-methods approach and investigated leaders’ autobiographical recollections of follower workplace deviance. We found a positive direct effect of leaders’ narcissistic rivalry across both studies. Leaders high in narcissistic rivalry showed abusive supervision (intentions) in response to organization-directed deviance (Studies 1 and 2) or supervisor-directed deviance (Study 1), but not in response to coworker-directed deviance (Studies 1 and 2). Leaders’ injury initiation motives could in part explain this effect. We discuss findings in light of the NARC and devaluation of others and derive implications for theory and practice.

Although plenty of studies have examined the antecedents of organizational citizenship behavior, empirical studies exploring the role of individual narcissism in relation to college students' organizational citizenship behavior are relatively scarce. Drawing on the dual theory of narcissism and the conservation of resources theory, this study aimed to explore the relationship between narcissistic duality traits (narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry) and organizational citizenship behavior of college students, and to further examine the mediating role of impression management motivation (assertive impression management motivation and defensive impression management motivation) and the moderating roles of teamwork, interpersonal relationships, and optimism. We used the questionnaire method with a sample of undergraduate and graduate students from several universities in Hubei, China. The data sample for analysis consists of 583 college students. (1) Narcissistic admiration had a significant and positive effect on college students' organizational citizenship behavior, while the effect of narcissistic rivalry was significant and negative; (2) assertive impression management motivation mediated the relationship between narcissistic admiration and college student's organizational citizenship behavior, and defensive impression management motivation mediated the relationship between narcissistic rivalry and college student' s organizational citizenship behavior; and (3) teamwork, interpersonal relationships, and optimism positively moderated the relationship between narcissistic admiration and assertive impression management motivation, and these variables positively moderated the indirect effects of assertive narcissism on college student's organizational citizenship behavior through assertive impression management motivation. We found that college students with narcissistic admiration engaged in more organizational citizenship behaviors than those with narcissistic rivalry. In addition, narcissistic admiration had a positive effect on organizational citizenship behavior through assertive impression management motivation, and narcissistic rivalry had a negative effect on organizational citizenship behavior through defensive impression management motivation. Finally, teamwork, interpersonal relationships, and optimism significantly and positively mediated the relationship between narcissistic admiration and assertive impression management motivation, and the indirect effect of narcissistic admiration on organizational citizenship behavior through assertive impression management motivation. However, the direct effects of teamwork, interpersonal relationships, and optimism on the relationship between narcissistic rivalry and defensive impression management motivation, and the indirect effect of narcissistic rivalry on organizational citizenship behavior through defensive impression management motivation were not significant.

Narcissistic admiration and rivalry in relation to aggressive sexual behavior among women and men

Individuals with high levels of narcissism often ascend to leadership positions. Whereas there is evidence that narcissism is linked to unethical behavior and negative social outcomes, the effects of leader narcissism on an organization’s most important resource—its employees—have not yet been studied thoroughly. Using theoretical assumptions of the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Concept (NARC) and social exchange theories, we examined how leaders’ narcissistic rivalry was related to follower outcomes in a sample of matched leaders and followers. Followers of leaders high in narcissistic rivalry reported less perceived supervisor support, lower quality leader-member relationships, lower performance-based self-esteem, and lower job engagement. These effects were only found when follower-rated leaders’ narcissistic rivalry was used in the model but not when self-rated leaders’ narcissistic rivalry was used as a predictor. This implies that the negative effects of leaders’ narcissistic rivalry on followers are driven by the expression of narcissistic tendencies (i.e., destructive leader behavior). Leader development should thus focus on changing destructive leader behavior. We propose that leaders high in narcissistic rivalry can be motivated to make such changes by showing them that by hurting their followers, they will eventually undermine their own reputation and status. Furthermore, selection and promotion practices should incorporate objective measures to weaken the effects of narcissists’ self-promotional tactics in these contexts and thus prevent people high in narcissistic rivalry from rising to leadership positions.

The narcissistic admiration and rivalry concept (NARC) model of grandiose narcissism posits that striving for uniqueness, grandiose fantasies, and charmingness define narcissistic admiration, whereas striving for supremacy, devaluation, and aggressiveness define narcissistic rivalry. Given these complex interrelationships, we explored the structure of grandiose narcissism using the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (NARQ) and Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) via network analysis in four separate samples which allowed us to assess the extent to which these networks replicated across these samples (total N = 3,868). Overall, grandiose cognitions from the NARQ emerged as a highly central node in each network, providing compound evidence for its replicability and generalizability as an important feature of grandiose narcissism within the NARC model. Charmingness from the NARQ emerged as a central node throughout Samples 1, 2, and 3, with strong connections to features of narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry (e.g., grandiose fantasies and aggressiveness), but was less central in Sample 4. To our knowledge, this is the first research to examine the replicability of the network structure of grandiose narcissism across various samples. These findings add to an increasingly important dialogue regarding replicability in psychological network science.