Narcissists Most Likely To Fill Leadership Positions

A new study shows that individuals who are overconfident about their abilities are most likely to step in as leaders. Narcissists like to be in charge, but their initiative doesn't mean that they are the best leaders. One of the other things that the study found is that narcissists don't outperform others in leadership roles.

The study claims that narcissists tend to be egotistical and exaggerate their talents and abilities. They also lack empathy for others. Lead research Amy Brunell, a psychologist at Ohio State University in Newark was careful to warn not to confuse narcissism with high self-esteem:

"A person with high self-esteem is confident and charming, but they also have a caring component and they want to develop intimacy with others," said lead researcher Amy Brunell, a psychologist at Ohio State University at Newark. "Narcissists have an inflated view of their talents and abilities and are all about themselves. They don't care as much about others."

It's not surprising that narcissists become leaders. They like power, they are egotistical, and they are usually charming and extraverted. But the problem is, they don't necessarily make better leaders."

Results of the study come from three studies - two with students and one with business managers.

In one study, 432 students completed surveys measuring various personality traits and were then put in groups of four and were then put into groups of four and told to pretend they were a committee of senior officers of the student union charged with the task of electing next year's director.

Students who scored higher on the power dimension of narcissism were more likely to say they wanted to lead the group, and were also more likely to say that they did lead the group and were more likely to be viewed as leaders by other group members. The desire for attention, another dimension of narcissim, was not strongly linked with leadership roles.

A second study used more than 400 students placed into groups of four, and were told to imagine they were shipwrecked on an uninhabited island. They had to choose 15 items from the ship that would best help them survive.

This study showed that those who scored highest on the power dimension also showed the most desire to lead the group, rated themselves as leaders, and were viewed by others as group leaders.

The third study involved 150 business managers enrolled in an executive MBA program. They were grouped in fours and told to act as if they were a school board determining how to allocate a large financial contribution from a made-up company.

This study found that those rated highest in narcissism were most likely to emerge as group leaders. These results held even when other personality traits such as extraversion and self-esteem were taken into account.

Researchers believe that the results of these studies apply to many parts of life; everywhere from Wall Street to presidential races.

The results will be detailed in an upcoming issue of the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.