Employee narcissism and promotability prospects

Narcissistic individuals often rise to positions of influence, but how so? Upward mobility in formal hierarchies is frequently contingent upon supervisory evaluations. We examined the relation between employee narcissism and supervisor promotability ratings, testing predictions from the display of power perspective (narcissism will positively predict promotability due to higher perceived power) and impression management perspective (narcissism will positively predict promotability due to self-promotion).

In two multisource studies involving employees and their supervisors from diverse organizations (S1: N_employees  = 166; N_supervisors  = 93; S2: N_employees  = 128; N_supervisors  = 85), we measured employee narcissism (S1, S2), employee sense of power, employee impression management tactics toward the supervisor (S2), and employee promotability as rated by supervisors (S1-S2). Further, in an experiment (S3: N = 181), we tested the causal effect of employee sense of power on promotability.

Results favored the display of power perspective. Although narcissism predicted both higher self-promotion toward the supervisor and greater sense of power, it was the latter that explained the positive relation between employee narcissism and promotability ratings.

Employees high on narcissism act as if they have more power in organizations, and thus, demonstrate behavior that would be expected in higher level positions. The findings help to explain narcissistic individuals' rise through the ranks.