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Narcissistic people most likely to emerge as leaders

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Narcissistic people most likely to emerge as leaders
Description
When a group is without a leader, you can often count on a narcissist to take charge, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that people who score high in narcissism tend to take control of leaderless groups. Narcissism is a trait in which people are self-centered, exaggerate their talents and abilities, and lack empathy for others.

"Not only did narcissists rate themselves as leaders, which you would expect, but other group members also saw them as the people who really run the group," said Amy Brunell, lead author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University at Newark. Narcissists, by definition, are self-centered and overconfident in their own abilities.

The researchers found similar results in two separate studies involving college students, and one involving business managers in an MBA program. And while narcissists are more likely to become leaders, results of one of the studies suggests that, once in power, narcissists don't perform any better than others in that leadership role.

"It's not surprising that narcissists become leaders," Brunell said." They like power, they are egotistical, and they are usually charming and extraverted. But the problem is, they don't necessarily make better leaders."
Original URL
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/osu-npm100708.php

Comments

  • Public Comments

    • dekaysion dekaysion
      17 months ago


      Interesting studies!
      Conscious Awareness

    • webferret webferret
      17 months ago


      http://samvak.tripod.com/journal48.html

      Comments on recent research by Roy Baumeister.

      Is pathological narcissism a blessing or a malediction?

      The answer is: it depends. Healthy narcissism is a mature, balanced love of oneself coupled with a stable sense of self-worth and self-esteem. Healthy narcissism implies knowledge of one's boundaries and a proportionate and realistic appraisal of one's achievements and traits.

      Pathological narcissism is wrongly described as too much healthy narcissism (or too much self-esteem). These are two absolutely unrelated phenomena which, regrettably, came to bear the same title. Confusing pathological narcissism with self- esteem betrays a fundamental ignorance of both.

      Pathological narcissism involves an impaired, dysfunctional, immature (True) Self coupled with a compensatory fiction (the False Self). The sick narcissist's sense of self-worth and self-esteem derive entirely from audience feedback. The narcissist has no self-esteem or self-worth of his own (no such ego functions). In the absence of observers, the narcissist shrivels to non-existence and feels dead. Hence the narcissist's preying habits in his constant pursuit of Narcissistic Supply. Pathological narcissism is an addictive behavior.

      Still, dysfunctions are reactions to abnormal environments and situations (e.g., abuse, trauma, smothering, etc.).

      Paradoxically, his dysfunction allows the narcissist to function. It compensates for lacks and deficiencies by exaggerating tendencies and traits. It is like the tactile sense of a blind person. In short: pathological narcissism is a result of over-sensitivity, the repression of overwhelming memories and experiences, and the suppression of inordinately strong negative feelings (e.g., hurt, envy, anger, or humiliation).

      That the narcissist functions at all - is because of his pathology and thanks to it. The alternative is complete decompensation and integration.

      In time, the narcissist learns how to leverage his pathology, how to use it to his advantage, how to deploy it in order to maximize benefits and utilities - in other words, how to transform his curse into a blessing.

      Narcissists are obsessed by delusions of fantastic grandeur and superiority. As a result they are very competitive. They are strongly compelled - where others are merely motivated. They are driven, relentless, tireless, and ruthless. They often make it to the top. But even when they do not - they strive and fight and learn and climb and create and think and devise and design and conspire. Faced with a challenge - they are likely to do better than non-narcissists.

      Yet, we often find that narcissists abandon their efforts in mid-stream, give up, vanish, lose interest, devalue former pursuits, fail, or slump. Why is that?

      Narcissists are prone to self-defeating and self-destructive behaviors.
      Conscious Awareness

    • 17 months ago


      Thanks, useful article whilst we're all battling with our egobegones.

      Here's my view......

      NEVER put a narcissist into a leadership position. It's the same as the Icarus concept where they delude themselves they know how to make you all fly and you all end up *splat* on the ground. They set all the tasks, do none of the work and expect all the glories.

      This sentence in the article captures the crux of the difference between narcissistic leaders and genuine leaders:

      "There have been a lot of studies that have found narcissistic leaders tend to have volatile and risky decision-making performance and can be ineffective and potentially destructive leaders," she said.


      Genuine leaders are consistently good, inclusive, collaborative and their entire raison d'être is to build as a team. Their approach to decision-making is pragmatic, rational and they factor in the risks to know where the potholes are, so that the team car doesn't end up crashing into it. If rewards are involved (financial, reputation, etc.) they're committed to equitability in principle and in practice.

      Leadership is a skill which they often develop from childhood from team sports / dance teams at school. Usually, it's not because they say they want that leadership role. It's because either the teacher designates the role to them or their peers recognize there's a combination of skills that person possesses which no one else does: usually team co-ordination abilities. If they do present themselves, it's because they're committed to rolling up their sleeves, working hard and sharing their fair responsibilities of the task. They shape as much as they graft on behalf of their team.

      Importantly, genuine leaders are completely oriented to win-win and when they assess any situation they combine IQ with EQ,360-2020 and empathetically try to facilitate and respect their team members as individuals. They try to take time to really find out about them and to accommodate their situation.

      Narcissistic leaders are into me-win. That's why they often end up leading their teams into disasters. Their perspectives and personal abilities are extremely limited so they can't anticipate the pot-holes in advance. Moreover, they're incapable of learning from their mistakes because they only reflect themselves --- rather than be mutually imbued and informed by the perspectives of others.

      The other difference between narcissistic and genuine leaders is that genuine leaders are prepared to put their own reputation on the line to protect and advance the cause of their team and their project, and will tenaciously fight to achieve this. They tend to present track records of their previous achievements as relevant examples to contextualize that they do have the insights and judgment abilities, derived from their tough experiences, to see a collective project through and to deliver on it because they've ALWAYS delivered at that level with their teams. They appreciate they may win some, lose some but they will always learn from the processes.

      Meanwhile, narcissists throw in the towel and go and seek another group that can hero-worship them at a superficial level.

      Big difference.

      Yes, I have worked with narcissistic and genuine leaders. Banking has an interesting mix of them. I would say that definitely the current credit crunch is the result of narcissism. There are "top dog" MDs who led their teams into extreme-risk businesses against the market sense, and ended up costing their banks US$500+ million in a single year. Clearly, narcissists.

      Thankfully, there are genuine leaders who lead their teams into risky but rewarding businesses and they all share in the benefits. They are steadfast in their loyalties to their team and to the best practices of teamwork and decision-making. They don't always get it right, but they're committed to persistently trying to hit it "spot on".

      I hope the genuine leaders kick the narcissists out and restore the global financial system to stability and sense.

      This is also why I hope Obama and his team wins the election in November. It's time to bring an end to narcissism in the American political system at its highest levels.
      Conscious Awareness

    • webferret webferret
      17 months ago


      Really subjective subject. Many variables, personality types, different types of narcissism. Mildy narcissist? Very? IQ? Job position ect.
      Conscious Awareness

      • pomlover pomlover
        17 months ago


        You're absolutely right. All behavior judgments are subjective decisions. Of course, most people don't judge for themselves. It takes thinking, so it's too much work to do. They align with the judgments of anointed leaders and experts who do the thinking for them

        "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so". .. Shakespeare.
        Conscious Awareness

    • 17 months ago


      Ta, and this is actually the same:

      * Meanwhile, narcissists throw in the towel and go and seek another group that can hero-worship them at a superficial level.

      * Yet, we often find that narcissists abandon their efforts in mid-stream, give up, vanish, lose interest, devalue former pursuits, fail, or slump. Why is that?


      There are probably studies which can trace narcissism back to babyhood. A narcissistic baby will cry extremely loudly without any sense of when it's appropriate or why because it wants attention and re-assurance. Then throughout early childhood the parents may reinforce this attention to them and make them seem "special" (aka spoilt) so when they're older they have the same pathology to "scream loudly" anon and without good cause to get that validation. This then reinforces its negative narcissistic behavior, so literally the individual remains in this immature phase of development --- even when they're 40-something middle aged managers.

      A well-adjusted baby only screams when it has genuine needs (nappy soiled, too hot, hungry) and it's sensible and mature enough to be aware of where its parents are. It constantly checks its environment and reads its mother's face for signs of whether it should cry or not. Then throughout early childhood it is the child everyone wants to play with, but even if it had no friends it would be happy and secure in its own existence. It has positive self-esteem and takes its parents' scoldings with good humor. If it's lucky, both sets of parents --- whilst being proud of the child's achievement --- will emphasize, firstly, that there are also other extremely talented children in the world and that consideration is as important as self-validation. Then this child grows up to be both self-confident and the facilitator of others' dreams (which is what leadership is actually about).

      As for "driven, relentless, tireless, and ruthless" being traits of narcissism......well, Donald Trump, Rupert Murdoch and Bill Gates have all had these labels leveled against them at one point or another in their careers (and often). The other day I read an article about how people perceive Zuckerberg as "arrogant" as they do of Steve Jobs on occasion too.

      Now, this indicates to me there are actually contradictions in any and all attempts to psychologically dissect it into narcissism or not because studies note:

      * Yet, we often find that narcissists abandon their efforts in mid-stream, give up, vanish, lose interest, devalue former pursuits, fail, or slump. Why is that?

      Then we find that the likes of Trump et al allegedly exhibit other traits of narcissism --- "driven, relentless, tireless, and ruthless" --- and they clearly have not thrown in the towel and abandoned their efforts! Although, Trump did make and lose a fortune on stretching beyond his own limits (a form of narcissism, some would argue) and Jobs was supposedly ousted for various vanity projects before making a remarkable return and restoring Apple to its glory with iTunes etc. Hurray!

      Wrt. Obama is he narcissistic because he uses the term he's "compelled by the urgency of now" instead of merely being motivated?

      So you see, with all these perception labels about leaders and about ordinary people.........it depends whose perspective you're seeing it through and your own personal filters as per that Satir model pomlover posted previously.

      It's also about proximity and direct personal exposure to the person. Someone can read something another person writes online and view them as "egotistical, narcissistic, pathological, ruthless" etc etc etc whilst another person who knows more about them may view them as "self-assured, inclusive, tenacious and direct". Both assessments are derived from the ego perception of the reader and the nature of their relationship with that person.

      Meanwhile, their mothers might know them as "smart, quick, considerate, funny and extremely capable.......but you better not try to bully them or give them any nonsense because they'll suck your soul out and spit out the bones!"


      The key way to tell narcissists and genuine leaders apart is whether they're prepared to leverage their own personal achievements in the service of others.

      So let's look at a real-life, live example. Now, we have someone like Senator Obama who in his own right has consistently worked hard his whole life and strived to make good use of his education. He could stay within the confines of academia, transmit that intelligence to the next generation and gain praise as a brilliant educator. OR he could put his tools and knowhow at the disposal of the American electorate to try and instigate positive reforms, and he necessarily has to be EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE during the election campaign because his opponents are deploying all manner of dirty tactics to prevent him from assuming office and going good on behalf of ordinary citizens. He has to become as "driven, relentless, tireless..." (all narcissism traits according to the response to Roy Baumeister) as his opponents.

      Now, let's look at the situation on Twine. By and large, users like Twine but there are some who also engage in dirty tactics to try and de-rail / undermine Twine with persistent negativity and sniping. Well, there are going to be some people (ordinary users) who will put their skills at Twine team's disposal to ensure that that doesn't happen because of the many who have already invested time, content, energies and attention to making Twine work.

      These people too are going to become "driven, relentless, tireless and ruthless" in ensuring the would-be saboteurs are not going to win and the democratic ethos of Twine's community is preserved. Is that narcissistic of them?

      Or is that about collective leadership and an eventual win-win whereby Twine is the leading SemWeb entity the majority consensus of its users wants it to be?

      See? Subtle differences in perception make a BIG difference to realization and actuality.
      Conscious Awareness

      • webferret webferret
        17 months ago


        I understand some of what you say. There are many forms and degrees of narcissism. You could even say that narcissism or higher levels of it are encouraged as good behavior in certain cultures. IE American vs Japanese. Still like you say really subjective.
        Conscious Awareness

        • 17 months ago


          Sure, there's also projected narcissism like when parents with low self-esteem might live vicariously through their children. Of course, there's a difference between the pushy narcissistic "stage mother" and the mother who dispatches her child off to extra-curricular activities so her child can socialize and develop to become a well-rounded person (academic, sporty and sociable).

          Here's another oddity. The Japanese are known as scoring relatively low on the narcissism scale because they subjugate personal needs to the fulfillment of group tasks and their company loyalties. Yet they show some of the highest forms of extreme competitiveness (especially in academics) which leads to destructiveness..................Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world.

          In any case, as with all subjective parameters and psychology, it's difficult to pin down precisely. It's not like in Physics where you can say the pressures on this person at this precise X,Y location is the force of the object in Newtons divided by the area in meters squared.
          Conscious Awareness

          • webferret webferret
            17 months ago


            Im not sure its because of their competitiveness that leads to their high suicide rates

            It has more to do with a long history of suicide and being ostracized from their social groups that leads to the high suicide rates. some other factors also


            http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7653935.stm
            Conscious Awareness

            • 17 months ago


              intensity of narcissism may also vary with time.

              At one time or another one country or another was narcissistic and over-stretched itself. The Japanese are now seen as having humility and low narcissism because this trait was induced by two major events: 1997 stock market collapse, WWII defeat. However, there was a period -- notably during the Meiji era --- when they were narcissistic and obsessed by delusions of fantastic grandeur and superiority to everyone else in the region.

              Likewise narcissism exhibited by every major country: France, Persia (Iran), UK, US, China, Russia, +....

              Pu Yi, the last Emperor of China, and Louis XIV were widely documented to be narcissistic wastrels, so their countries failed during their tenure, some may argue.

              ******************************************

              There are BBC documentaries which examine Japanese suicide and link it with extreme competitiveness which is tied in with the concept of familial shame, so if they don't perform at school ===> complete decompensation and disintegration (a by-product of narcissism).

              ******************************************

              It's unlikely there isn't some element of narcissism in each of us. It's just what TYPE it is (healthy/destructive), WHEN it manifests and how it's dealt with.
              Conscious Awareness

    • Kurt Laitner Kurt Laitner
      17 months ago


      I thought they were all sociopaths
      Conscious Awareness

    • . .•∞º˙ . .•∞º˙
      17 months ago


      whadaya mean, THEY?
      Conscious Awareness

    • 17 months ago


      Let me also add this to the mix. There are numerous studies on high-achievers and what drives them to success (childhood trauma, ego, bullying et al).

      This is what I propose to further separate narcissists from non-narcissists:

      * Narcissists obsessively promote themselves internally from a sense of personal entitlement "This is mine: glory, riches, fame."

      * Non-narcissists objectively propel themselves externally from a sense that they're here to serve others. The seeds of that may be three-fold:

      (i.) family honor, so a continuation of good values or deeds by their ancestors

      (ii.) personal principles and integrity

      (iii.) in awareness and recognition that others need champion(s) of their cause or otherwise their hopes and dreams will not be realised, but rather crushed by naysayers and blockers


      The family element is vital because the downfall of narcissists is their lack of self-esteem or self-identity, independent of the superfice of audience adulation they seek, so when the attention dies, they effectively die also.

      By comparison, non-narcissists become consistently successful and high-achieving because they have a secure sense of self-esteem and identity, gifted and grounded by their strong families. Even when their ventures stall or fail (unforeseen external factors), they're able to draw on this unconditional source of strength (aka love)and come back out to take up the challenge(s) again and again until they nail it and they'll take others with them as they do so.
      Conscious Awareness
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Calvin Smith

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dekaysion

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