Jennifer Eck, Christiane Schoel, Constantine Sedikides, Jochen E Gebauer, Dagmar Stahlberg
{"title":"Which leadership style do more narcissistic subordinates prefer in supervisors?","authors":"Jennifer Eck, Christiane Schoel, Constantine Sedikides, Jochen E Gebauer, Dagmar Stahlberg","doi":"10.1111/jopy.12950","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and objective: </strong>Subordinates in Western cultures generally prefer supervisors with a democratic rather than autocratic leadership style. It is unclear, however, whether more narcissistic subordinates share or challenge this prodemocratic default attitude. On the one hand, more narcissistic individuals strive for power and thus may favor a democratic supervisor, who grants them power through participation. On the other hand, similarity attracts and, thus, more narcissistic subordinates may favor an autocratic supervisor, who exhibits the same leadership style that they would adopt in a leadership position.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Four studies (N<sub>total</sub> = 1284) tested these competing hypotheses with two narcissism dimensions: admiration and rivalry. Participants indicated the leadership style they generally prefer in a supervisor (Study 1), rated their own supervisor's leadership style (Study 2a: individual ratings; Study 2b: team ratings), and evaluated profiles of democratic and autocratic supervisors (Study 3).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We found a significantly weaker prodemocratic default attitude among more narcissistic subordinates: Subordinates' narcissism was negatively related to endorsement of democratic supervisors and positively related to endorsement of autocratic supervisors. Those relations were mostly driven by narcissistic rivalry rather than narcissistic admiration.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The results help clarify the narcissistic personality and, in particular, how more narcissistic subordinates prefer to be led.</p>","PeriodicalId":48421,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Personality","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Personality","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12950","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"Psychology","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background and objective: Subordinates in Western cultures generally prefer supervisors with a democratic rather than autocratic leadership style. It is unclear, however, whether more narcissistic subordinates share or challenge this prodemocratic default attitude. On the one hand, more narcissistic individuals strive for power and thus may favor a democratic supervisor, who grants them power through participation. On the other hand, similarity attracts and, thus, more narcissistic subordinates may favor an autocratic supervisor, who exhibits the same leadership style that they would adopt in a leadership position.
Method: Four studies (Ntotal = 1284) tested these competing hypotheses with two narcissism dimensions: admiration and rivalry. Participants indicated the leadership style they generally prefer in a supervisor (Study 1), rated their own supervisor's leadership style (Study 2a: individual ratings; Study 2b: team ratings), and evaluated profiles of democratic and autocratic supervisors (Study 3).
Results: We found a significantly weaker prodemocratic default attitude among more narcissistic subordinates: Subordinates' narcissism was negatively related to endorsement of democratic supervisors and positively related to endorsement of autocratic supervisors. Those relations were mostly driven by narcissistic rivalry rather than narcissistic admiration.
Conclusion: The results help clarify the narcissistic personality and, in particular, how more narcissistic subordinates prefer to be led.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Personality publishes scientific investigations in the field of personality. It focuses particularly on personality and behavior dynamics, personality development, and individual differences in the cognitive, affective, and interpersonal domains. The journal reflects and stimulates interest in the growth of new theoretical and methodological approaches in personality psychology.