Bosses really are narcissists: Research finds many managers recruited to top jobs suffer from personality disorder
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 22:27 GMT, 1 July 2014 | UPDATED: 22:42 GMT, 1 July 2014
If you think your boss is ruthless, selfish, vain and lacking social skills – you’re probably right, say scientists.
New research shows that many managers recruited to top jobs suffer from narcissistic personality disorder.
Narcissists are often brimming with self confidence and prepared to take tough decisions – just the qualities likely to impress at interview.
But their self-serving nature means in practice they may not actually be the best leaders.
Researcher Christian Gimso, from the BI Norwegian Business School, studied 3,200 people applying for leadership training at Norwegian armed forces officer schools.
The candidates took an interview and were also given a personality test that measured narcissistic traits.
It was found those who scored highly for narcissism also did well in the interviews – and so were more likely to be accepted as officer cadets.
Mr Gimso said: ‘Leaders who score high on narcissistic traits lack the ability to relate to others.
'They run their own agenda with no thought for the people around them. This can mean poor leadership performance.
'People with narcissistic personality disorders will be interested in dominance, status, recognition, power and admiration, They may not think twice about using others to achieve their goals.
Narcissists gravitate to positions that can feed their hunger for power and status, said Mr Gimso.
The findings supported the idea that they are good at getting themselves picked for such jobs.
He said: 'The study indicates that candidates with a high degree of narcissistic traits do better in the admission interview than candidates with a lower degree of narcissism. They are also more likely to be admitted.'
He made a number of recommendations for screening out the narcissists at job interviews.
They included treating candidates as equally as possible, using multiple assessment tools, and looking for unwanted as well as desirable qualities.
- Narcissistic traits - such as ruthlessness - likely to impress at interview
- But their self-serving nature means they might not be the best leaders
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 22:27 GMT, 1 July 2014 | UPDATED: 22:42 GMT, 1 July 2014
If you think your boss is ruthless, selfish, vain and lacking social skills – you’re probably right, say scientists.
New research shows that many managers recruited to top jobs suffer from narcissistic personality disorder.
Narcissists are often brimming with self confidence and prepared to take tough decisions – just the qualities likely to impress at interview.
But their self-serving nature means in practice they may not actually be the best leaders.
Researcher Christian Gimso, from the BI Norwegian Business School, studied 3,200 people applying for leadership training at Norwegian armed forces officer schools.
The candidates took an interview and were also given a personality test that measured narcissistic traits.
It was found those who scored highly for narcissism also did well in the interviews – and so were more likely to be accepted as officer cadets.
Mr Gimso said: ‘Leaders who score high on narcissistic traits lack the ability to relate to others.
'They run their own agenda with no thought for the people around them. This can mean poor leadership performance.
'People with narcissistic personality disorders will be interested in dominance, status, recognition, power and admiration, They may not think twice about using others to achieve their goals.
Narcissists gravitate to positions that can feed their hunger for power and status, said Mr Gimso.
The findings supported the idea that they are good at getting themselves picked for such jobs.
He said: 'The study indicates that candidates with a high degree of narcissistic traits do better in the admission interview than candidates with a lower degree of narcissism. They are also more likely to be admitted.'
He made a number of recommendations for screening out the narcissists at job interviews.
They included treating candidates as equally as possible, using multiple assessment tools, and looking for unwanted as well as desirable qualities.
