Narcissistic Leaders Research Articles

Despotic vs narcissistic leadership: differences in their relationship to emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate whether two types of destructive leadership styles – despotic and narcissistic – predict turnover intentions of nurses via emotional exhaustion, drawing from the conservation of resources theory and the unfolding theory of turnover.Design/methodology/approachThis paper used multiwave data collected from 731 nurses working in Palestinian hospitals. Structural equation modeling using partial least squares was used to analyze the data.FindingsBoth narcissistic and despotic leadership are associated with turnover intentions directly and indirectly through emotional exhaustion. Despotic leadership, however, has a stronger relationship to turnover intention than narcissistic leadership. Despotic and narcissistic leadership are common in this sample.Practical implicationsA strong psycho-safety climate is likely needed to address the harm caused by these destructive leadership styles, and interventions should span primary, secondary and tertiary levels of the public health model. Examples include ensuring strong organizational checks, balances and information flows, job control, support and widespread training; assistance programs such as counseling services; and remediation and repair for harmed individuals and teams.Originality/valueThis study advances the understanding of the negative, dark or destructive side of leadership specifically in the nursing context. This study compares despotic and narcissistic leadership to examine which one better/worse explains turnover intentions through emotional exhaustion.

Putting Oneself Ahead of the Group: The Liability of Narcissistic Leadership.

Integrating insights from interdependence theory with the narcissistic admiration and rivalry concept, we propose that a pivotal obstacle for narcissistic leaders is their inability to sustain benevolent perceptions over time. As people strive to interpret social behavior in terms of self- or other-interest, the narcissistic tendency of prioritizing self-interests over the collective may become apparent and eventually taint their reputation as a leader. We examined how interpersonal motive perceptions-based on attributions of self- and other-interest-would clarify the leadership paradox of narcissism. We tracked 472 participants in 119 teams across four time-points. Narcissistic rivalry (but not admiration) corresponded to increasingly negative leader effectiveness ratings. The extent to which individuals were perceived as self-maximizing and lacking concern for other interests was tightly connected to declines in leader effectiveness across time. Altogether, these results offer insight into how perceived interpersonal motives may explain the downfall of narcissistic leadership.

Relationship Between School Principals' Narcissistic Leadership Behaviors and Teachers' Organizational Trust and Organizational Cynicism Levels (A Path Analysis Study)

As leaders of educational organizations, school principals can change teachers' perceptions of school positively or negatively with leadership styles they have. The purpose of this study is to determine in what direction and level the narcissistic leadership behaviors of school principals is related with teachers' organizational trust and cynicism levels according to teachers' perceptions. 397 teachers working in primary, secondary and high schools in Siirt/Turkey during the 2019-2020 academic year completed self-report surveys. Teachers' perceived organizational cynicism and perceived organizational trust were shown to have a negative and moderate relationship. This indicates that the increase in organizational cynicism ultimately decreases organizational trust. Also, 37% of the total variance in the organizational cynicism variable is explained by the behaviours of narcissistic leader. Furthermore, 52% of the total variance of organizational trust variable is explained on the basis of narcissistic leadership behaviors and a direct effect of organizational cynicism latent variable, as well as an indirect effect of narcissistic leadership behaviors through the organizational cynicism variable. As a result, the narcissistic leadership behaviors of school principals can damage organizational trust and increase organizational cynicism.

Charismatic rhetoric, perceptions of charisma and narcissism, and voting behavior: Leadership under crisis

Although research recognizes the influence of charismatic leadership and rhetoric, their practice in differing contexts and the moderating role of narcissism is understudied. Using a mixed-methods approach, we explore the effects of crises on the way a narcissistic leader employs charismatic rhetoric, and the way charismatic leadership is viewed by followers as they select leaders during a national crisis. In Study 1, we investigate former President Donald Trump’s response to threats to his social power during times of crisis. Content analysis of Trump’s speeches revealed that he used less charismatic rhetoric overall and more self-focused rhetoric during crisis periods, an unexpected outcome given existing findings in the literature. In Study 2, we explore followers’ responses to Trump’s perceived charisma. Three matched waves of data examined responses about perceived charisma, importance placed on the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, and leader choice. Findings from Study 2 suggest that crisis influenced perceptions of charisma and voting behavior, with leader narcissism playing a moderating role. Overall, our findings have implications for understanding the role of crisis in charismatic rhetoric and how narcissism and leader charisma influence followers’ voting behavior.

The dark side of leadership: A systematic review of creativity and innovation

AbstractIt is believed that workplace creativity and innovation are fostered by positive leader behaviors and positive workplace relationships and hindered by the opposite. However, some challenge this view and argue that creativity and innovation can also be fostered when employees experience what is increasingly referred to as “the dark side of leadership”. Research in this area is sparse, contradictory, and overly confusing. We provide a comprehensive systematic review of 106 empirical studies on this topic. We review research on a broad range of constructs, including abusive supervision, authoritarian leadership, narcissistic leadership, and close monitoring. As might be expected, a larger number of the articles reviewed found a negative relationship, but there are important discrepancies and details. Our review reports the main effects, summarizes the results of the mediating and moderating variables, and highlights methodological shortcomings of the previous literature. On this basis, several recommendations are made to advance this field of research.

The leader ship was destined to sink: An examination of dominance and prestige on the rise and fall of the narcissistic leader.

The leader ship was destined to sink: An examination of dominance and prestige on the rise and fall of the narcissistic leader.

The narcissistic leadership style perspective in terms of factors, roles and influences in the organization

Abstrak
 Para pemimpin narsistik atau narsisme kepemimpinan memiliki sistem kepercayaan dan gaya kepemimpinan yang luar biasa, dan apa adanya serta dimotivasi oleh kebutuhan mereka akan kekuasaan dan kekaguman daripada perhatian empati terhadap konstituen dan lembaga mereka memimpin. Kami meninjau dan menilai literatur teoritis dan penelitian tentang narsisme pemimpin untuk memahami potensi positif dan konsekuensi negatif dari kepemimpinan narsissistik dengan gaya kepemimpinan yang ada dan dalam hubungan narsisstik kepemimpinan untuk dijadikan model kepemimpinan. Dalam konteks ini, kami memberi definisi narsisistik kepemimpinan dan meringkas penyebab kepemimpinan narsistik. Kemudian, memperkenalkan tentang pengaruh positif dan negatif dari kepemimpinan narsistik serta pengaruhnya dalam tranformasi organisasi. Narsistik merupakan ciri kepribadian yang dianggap bertanggung jawab untuk hasil perilaku positif dan negatif yang memengaruhi keputusan dan tindakan. Kepengaruhannya akan sangat dipengaruhi oleh kedominannya pengaruh perilaku tersebut dalam diri pemimpin. Makalah ini merevieu hubungan narsisistik kepemimpinan dalam organisasi faktor, peran dan dampaknya pada organisasi dalam tranformasi organisasi
 Kata kunci: Narsisme , Kepemimpinan, organisasi
 
 Abstract
 
 Narcissistic personality traits that include grandeur, arrogance, self-absorption, rights, fragile self-esteem, and hostility are attributes of many powerful leaders. Narcissistic leaders have an extraordinary system of belief and leadership style, and what they aregenerally motivated by their need for power and admiration rather than empathetic attention to their constituents and lead institutions. However, narcissists also have a great charisma and vision that is essential for effective leadership. We review and critically assess the theoretical literature and research on narcissistic leaders to understand the potential positive and negative consequences of their leadership, their leadership trajectory, and narcissistic relationships for established leadership models. In this context, we define narcissism and narcissistic leadership and summarize the causes of narcissistic leadership. Then, by definition, we introduce the positive and negative effects of the narcissistic leadership and its influence in organizational transformation. Narcissism is a personality trait that is perceived to be responsible for positive and negative behavioral outcomes that affect decisions and actions. His influence will be influenced by the dominance of such behavior in the leader. This paper explores the relationship of narcissism with leadership in the organizational context and presents its impact on the organization in achieving organizational transformation
 Keywords: Narcissistic, Leadership, Organization

Narcissism as a global barrier to education for sustainable development

Narcissism, extreme self-interest, refers to a set of personality characteristics including arrogance, self-centeredness, need for admiration, sense of entitlement, grandiosity, lack of empathy, and interpersonal exploitation, which can range from normal to a diagnosable mental disorder, narcissistic personality disorder. Narcissism, deriving from the Greek myth of Narcissus who fell in love with his reflection in a pool of water which led to his demise, is part of our human nature and is associated with aggressive behaviour, conflict and war, counterproductive work behaviour, “bad” leadership, and weaker environmental ethics. Evidence suggests that individual and collective narcissism is increasing worldwide. Correspondingly, individualism is increasing while collectivism is declining. Furthermore, leadership attracts narcissists with its allure of power and prestige, who then affect their organisations’ performance, and those higher in narcissism tend to attain higher leadership levels. These trends are increasingly problematic as our world shifts toward greater interdependence. Add the challenges of narcissism with its corresponding threats to sustainable institutions to the challenges of sustainable development, “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987: 43), and this identifies an overlooked barrier to education for sustainable development. We developed a testable model to address this barrier. Since the determining factors for institutional sustainability are generated largely by activities of specific teams, departments, and task forces, our framework stresses interactions at the group level in education systems. This model presents seven sets of impacts of a narcissistic leader’s actions upon the outcomes for her or his group, generates fourteen propositions, and outlines research strategies.

Looking Like a Winner: Leader Narcissism and War Duration

Can an individual impact a phenomenon as overwhelming and complex as war? Do leaders impact interstate war dynamics? Leaders high in grandiose narcissism focus their efforts on maintaining their inflated self-image during war by striving desperately for victory. While most leaders sacrifice their historical image for state interests, more narcissistic leaders only exit wars if they “win”, or overcome threats to their self-image. Narcissists essentially ignore revealed information and create deadlock to avoid looking like losers. In other words, narcissistic leaders encourage us to look beyond traditional rationalist models of wartime dynamics. This paper analyzes United States’ interstate war duration from 1897 to 2007 and finds support for the argument that more narcissistic United States presidents extend war duration. This paper also compares Eisenhower’s handling of the Korean War and Nixon’s handling of the Vietnam War as an illustrative probe of causal mechanisms.

Determining the Effect of Narcissistic Leadership on Employee Performance: An applied Study in a Private College in Iraq

The narcissism of leaders has been studied as a negative trait. It is a personality disorder related to the constant aspiration for power, superiority over others, and a lack of empathy with others and their exploitation to achieve personal ends. Narcissists often seek leadership and work for their interests, and these behaviors affect workers' lower levels of performance, creativity, and productivity. This, in turn, leads to higher levels of burnout, job turnover, and other organizational diseases because the traits of leaders and their actual behavior complement each other. Therefore, this research aims to study the relationship between narcissistic leadership with its dimensions (arrogance, authority) and workers' performance (organizational commitment, job satisfaction, creativity, productivity). The research sample was represented in Baghdad College of Economic Sciences University / Iraq, and the research sample amounted to (77) individuals. The research relied on the questionnaire as the main tool to collect data to conduct statistical analyses. As (87) questionnaires were distributed to the employees of the researched college, the number of retrieved questionnaires was (77) valid for analysis. The data was analyzed using (SPSS V.25) and (Amos V.25). Many statistical methods were used to achieve the research objectives, represented by (arithmetic mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, Pearson correlation coefficient, and simple linear regression). The most important findings of the research are the adverse effect of narcissistic leadership on workers' performance. The more there is narcissistic leadership in the college understudy, the more it negatively contributes to the performance levels of employees.
 
 Received: 16 May 2022 / Accepted: 15 August 2022 / Published: 2 September 2022

HOW DO NARCISSISTIC LEADERS RELATE TO EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATION CITIZEN BEHAVIOR (LEADER MEMBER EXCHANGE AS A MEDIATION VARIABLE)

This research aims to see the Relationship of Narcissistic Leadership with Organizational Citizen Behavior Mediated by Leader Member Exchange. This study uses Organizational Citizen Behavior as a dependent variable and Narcissistic Leadership as an independent variable. This study used quantitative research methods with sampling techniques in the form of purposive sampling which were distributed to office workers in the Central Jakarta area with an age range in the Millennial generation, namely 20 years to 40 years. The number of populations in this study is unknown, so the sampling used the Lame show technique with a total sample of 100 respondents. The results of the linear regression in this study showed that the proposed hypothesis corresponded to the research carried out. Where the results of the study showed a significant relationship between narcissistic leadership and employee organizational citizen behavior. The results also showed that leader member exchange can mediate the relationship between narcissistic leadership variables and employee organizational citizen behavior.

Why Are There So Many Narcissistic Leaders? Subordinates Don’t Give Them Negative Feedback

Narcissists fill many prominent leadership positions even though they often do not perform better than non-narcissists and they have a leadership style that their subordinates do not like. Why is this this case? We hypothesized that negative feedback makes leaders want to quit and that narcissistic leaders do not receive as much of this discouraging negative feedback from their subordinates as non-narcissistic leaders do. We tested these hypotheses across a series of studies. In Study 1, we found that leaders who received negative feedback were less likely to want to continue in their current leadership roles or take on new leadership roles as compared to leaders who received positive feedback. The discouraging effect of negative feedback occurred for both more and less narcissistic leaders. In Studies 2 and 3, subordinates said that they would be less likely to provide negative feedback to a narcissistic manager than a non-narcissistic manager because they thought that the narcissistic manager would be less likely to be receptive to their concerns. Taken together, these results support our hypotheses and provide evidence that subordinates may be unwittingly forcing out the non-narcissistic leaders they would prefer to have by providing them with more negative feedback.

The Benefits and Detriments of Leader Narcissism: A Meta-Analysis Based on Agentic-Communal Framework

Researchers have adopted several approaches to reconcile the mix findings of leader narcissism. This study offers an agentic-communal framework to synthetize the dual character of leader narcissism via meta-analysis. With 63 independent studies and 13221 leader samples, we elucidate the duality of leader narcissism by demonstrating that leader narcissism facilitates charismatic leadership while decreases communal-related effectiveness. Charismatic leadership and communal-related variables indirect the positive and negative effects of leader narcissism on more distal outcomes (i.e., follower performance and leader effectiveness), respectively. Also, employees in high power distance cultures perceived a stronger positive relationship between narcissistic leaders and charismatic leadership, whereas low power distance cultures embraced a stronger negative relationship between narcissistic leaders and communal outcomes. Lastly, we demonstrate the incremental validity of leader narcissism by comparing it with leader self-esteem, with the results that leader narcissism has incremental validity on charismatic leadership perceptions beyond leader self-esteem, but they exhibit opposite relationships with communal effectiveness. These findings demonstrate the utility of agentic-communal framework for understanding the duality of leader narcissism.

Double-edged Effect of Leader Narcissism on Team Radical Creativity

Given the vital role of team radical creativity in organizations, this study examined a moderated mediation model between leader narcissism and team radical creativity. Drawing on self-regulatory strategies of leader narcissism, we theorized that leader narcissism would have a negatively indirect effect on team radical creativity via leader voice response and team information elaboration, and have a positively indirect effect on team radical creativity via leader novel information searching and team novel information searching. In addition, organizational valuing of creativity would moderate the relationship between leader narcissism and leader voice response as well as the relationship between leader narcissism and leader novel information searching. Using a four-stage field survey from 94 team leader responses and 540 team member responses, we found that leader narcissism was negatively related to leader voice response, which was positively related to team information elaboration and team radical creativity. In addition, leader narcissism is positively related to leader novel information searching, which was positively related to team novel information searching and team radical creativity. Finally, leader perceived OVC moderates the negative relationship between leader narcissism and leader voice response, and narcissistic leaders would have less voice response in organizations with lower OVC (vs. higher); leader perceived OVC also moderates the indirect effect of leader narcissism negatively influencing team radical creativity through leader voice response and team information elaboration, such that this indirect relationship is weaker when OVC is higher (vs. lower).

Leader Narcissism, Perceived Leader Narcissism and Employee Outcomes:The Moderating Effect of Goal

Leader narcissism is an important issue in organizational management. However, its effects on employees outcomes yield inconsistent results. A review of extant literature on leader narcissism suggests that its downside or upside effects may depend on situational moderators that explain when and why leaders’ latent narcissistic traits are activated and manifested in behavioral tendencies. In response to this, the present research drew on trait activation theory and identified leaders’ perceived goal congruence with their followers as a key boundary condition that is likely to activate narcissistic leaders’ behavioral expressions. Multilevel analysis of a sample of 55-leader and 214-follower pairing from multisource and multiwave showed that when narcissistic leaders perceive high goal congruence with employees, their latent traits tend to be elicited and expressed in behaviors, which leads to employees’ perceived leader narcissism and in turn negatively affects perceptions of leader effectiveness, employee performance and employee creativity. The results serve as a response to the contradictory findings of the effects of leader narcissism and suggest implications for theory and practice.

Research on the Effect of Narcissistic Leadership on Employee Job Embeddedness.

Narcissistic leadership is the synthesis of narcissistic personality traits and leadership behaviors that are motivated mainly by self-interest needs and arrogant beliefs. Such leadership style has multiple effects on organizations and employees. The amplifying influence of narcissistic leadership on their subordinates has become a hot topic in the field of organizational behavior. Based on the social exchange theory and the resource conservation theory, the current study constructs a chain mediation model of narcissistic leadership affecting employees’ job embeddedness with 405 corporate employees as survey respondents. The results of data analysis show that narcissistic leadership is significantly and negatively related to employees’ job embeddedness; Leader-member exchange (LMX) and perceived insider status not only play a mediating role between narcissistic leadership and job embeddedness but also play a chain mediating roles in the relationship between narcissistic leadership and job embeddedness. Our findings deepen the theoretical exploration of narcissistic leadership and help all types of organizations to improve their leadership practices.

Narcissistic leaders: The good, the bad, and recommendations

Narcissistic leaders: The good, the bad, and recommendations

Toxic Leadership and Empowering Leadership: Relations with Work Motivation.

PurposeThe present study aims to verify the association between two opposing models of leadership, toxic and empowering, and the different dimensions of work motivation.Participants and MethodsThree questionnaires (Toxic Leadership Scale, Empowering Leadership Questionnaire, and Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale) were applied to 408 workers. Cluster analysis was performed.ResultsCluster analysis produced eight clusters based on the different configurations of leadership dimensions, namely coercive, centralizer, false paternalistic, toxic role model, coach, narcissistic-empowering, toxic, and empowering. Those clusters relate differently to work motivation dimensions.ConclusionThe profiles with higher scores in empowering leadership dimensions are more generally related to autonomous regulation (identified and intrinsic work motivation). The profiles with higher toxic leadership dimensions are more related to amotivation and controlled regulation (extrinsic work motivation). One profile stood out: the narcissistic-empowering profile that combines high scores in narcissistic leadership and empowering leadership dimensions. This profile unexpectedly relates significantly to autonomous regulation. This study contributed to the knowledge of the work motivation dimensions concerning empowerment and toxic leadership. Therefore, it contributes to deepening the nomological network of the concepts and providing inputs to human resource processes suitable to improving the organizational results and the workers’ quality of life.

Moderating Effect of Construction Manager Perspective Toward Leadership Behavior in Decision Making Process and Performance

This research was conducted to determine the effect of TMT cognitive conflict as a mediator variable on the effect between Directive leadership, Empowering leadership and Narcissistic leadership on Strategic decisions comprehensiveness as well as the mediating effect of Strategic decisions comprehensiveness on the effect between Directive leadership, Empowering leadership and Narcissistic leadership on Project performance. The data was collected through on-line questionnaires and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). A total of 109 construction projects in Indonesia participated as research samples. Results showed that Directive leadership and Empowering leadership are types of leadership that contribute positive results to project performance and will increase even more when mediated by Strategic decisions comprehensiveness. But it should also be noted that conflict factors at site manager level can have a negative effect on strategy in the decision-making process and overall company performance. Companies need to educate Project Managers on how to lead a construction project with a directive and empowering leadership behavior and provide education in strategizing decision making during the project.

Narcissistic leaders do not share! The relationship between top managers' narcissism and the distribution of value added

Stakeholder theory implies that firms' economic and social purpose is to create value for all their stakeholders, without favoring any group. However, the distribution of the value created is a matter of choice for each firm. Thus, it may reflect the top managers' characteristics. Accordingly, this paper examines whether the narcissism of top managers impacts the creation and distribution of value added. The results show that narcissism does not impact the total value added. However, narcissistic top managers capture more value for themselves, paying less to employees. Other stakeholder groups are not affected by the narcissism of top managers.