Abstract
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.
Highlights
Even at their best, narcissistic leaders are bound to leave damaged systems and relationships in their wake
The current study aims to further contribute to this literature by heeding claims for a more fine-grained approach in investigating narcissism (e.g., Ackermann et al 2011; Braun 2017) through differentiating two dimensions of narcissism proposed by the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Concept (NARC; Back et al 2013)
In taking a holistic perspective, we investigated effects of leaders’ narcissistic rivalry on several follower outcomes by asking: How do followers perceive leaders high in narcissistic rivalry, how is the perceived relationship with their leaders affected, how do they feel about themselves, and what is the impact on their self-reported behavior in the workplace?
Summary
Narcissistic leaders are bound to leave damaged systems and relationships in their wake. In the business ethics literature, several studies have examined how leader narcissism relates to follower emotions, perceptions and behavior (e.g., Braun et al 2018; Den Hartog et al 2020; Huang et al 2020; Liu et al 2017; Nevicka et al 2018b). Focusing on the antagonistic dimension of narcissistic rivalry, building on theoretical assumptions regarding narcissists’ behavior and relationships in the workplace, and translating empirical results from studies on narcissists’ personal relationships to a work context, we propose that working for leaders high in narcissistic rivalry will negatively impact how followers feel and behave. In taking a holistic perspective, we investigated effects of leaders’ narcissistic rivalry on several follower outcomes by asking: How do followers perceive leaders high in narcissistic rivalry, how is the perceived relationship with their leaders affected, how do they feel about themselves, and what is the impact on their self-reported behavior in the workplace?
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