Ethical climate as moderator in the indirect relationship between dark triad traits and organizational pride among...

Studies have considered the roles of antecedents of organizational pride. However, they have not yet investigated the personality and motivational factors and potential interactions between the ethical environment, personality traits, and employees' needs in explaining organizational pride. This study fills the gap within the person-organization fit approach by examining the relationship between dark triad personality traits and organizational pride, mediated by the opportunities to satisfy the need for power and moderated by perceptions of an instrumental ethical climate. The cross-sectional research included 1,000 participants (mean age = 41.06; 54.9% men and 45.1% women) employed on a full-time, permanent contract in companies of various sizes in Poland. A positive relationship between narcissism and organizational pride was found (B = 0.30, p = 001), as was a negative relationship between Machiavellianism and organizational pride (B = - 0.26, p = 003), and between psychopathy and organizational pride (B = - 0.29, p = 001). Perception of the instrumental climate moderated the relationship between narcissism and the opportunities to satisfy the need for power (t = 3.19; p = 009), Machiavellianism and the opportunities to satisfy the need for power (t = 2.93.; p = 003), psychopathy and the opportunities to satisfy the need for power (t = 2.94; p = 033), as well as opportunities to satisfy the need for power and organizational pride (t = 5.57; p = 000). Indirect positive relationships between narcissism and Machiavellianism and organizational pride, mediated by opportunities to satisfy the need for power and amplified by a perception of an instrumental ethical climate, were confirmed. The beneficial function of an instrumental ethical climate and opportunities to satisfy the need for power of narcissistic and Machiavellian employees' organizational pride were discussed. Practical implications were formulated regarding the recruitment and selection of work candidates and their development in terms of dark triad features and their congruency with instrumental ethical climate and possibilities to satisfy their need for power.