More helpful or less ethical: The dilemma between “desire to gain to face” and “fear of losing face” for narcissistic employees

Abstract

Drawing on impression management theory, we investigate whether, how, and when employees with narcissistic admiration and rivalry exhibit different workplace behaviors via distinct pathways of social face consciousness. Across a scenario experiment (Study 1), a time-lagged field survey (Study 2), and a longitudinal survey (Study 3), our findings reveal that narcissistic admiration fosters helping behavior via the consciousness of desire to gain face, whereas narcissistic rivalry drives unethical pro-job behavior via the consciousness of fear of losing face. Moreover, employee-perceived supportive leadership amplifies the positive effects of narcissistic admiration on the desire to gain face, then promotes helping behavior, while mitigating the effects of narcissistic rivalry on the fear of losing face, thus reducing unethical pro-job behavior. Our research contributes to a fine-grained understanding of the paradoxical effects of narcissism and sheds light on how organizations and managers can effectively guide narcissistic employees in helping others, rather than serving themselves.