Dangerous liaisons

Are you sitting next to a narcissist? Is the office manager a little too Machiavellian for your liking? Did that colleague giving a PowerPoint presentation the other day seem a bit psychopathic? Holly Andrews and Dr Jan Francis-Smythe examine the negative consequences of people with extreme personalities.

There is often a fine line between self-confidence and grandiosity, persuasiveness and manipulation. Those that border on the extreme in this way tend to thrive in fast-paced, transitional organisations with low levels of bureaucracy where they can more easily mask their narcissism, Machiavellianism or psychopathy* – or all three forms of personality dysfunction**.

The current economic climate is ideal for such personality types and they may be more difficult to spot amongst all the change that is taking place in organisations due to the recession – but this just makes them even more of a potential threat.

Who are these people?

 
At the heart of psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism is a willingness to exploit other people for personal gain:

• Narcissism is defined by traits including fantasies of power, exaggerated sense of self-importance, entitlement, need for admiration and power, lack of empathy, and exploitation of others (American Psychiatric Association, 2000)
• The concept of Machiavellianism has developed from the writings of Machiavelli, an Italian Renaissance diplomat and writer. More recently, the concept has been reinvented as a personality orientation. Christie & Geis (1970) define somebody who ‘views and manipulates others for his own purpose’ as being of Machiavellian character
• Psychopathy is a constellation of interpersonal and lifestyle traits including lack of empathy and remorse, superficial charm, grandiosity, irresponsibility, egocentricity, pathological lying, inability to delay gratification, failure to learn from punishment and reckless behaviour (Hare, 1991).

Outside of clinical settings, people can possess these traits to varying degrees. A small tendency towards these traits may be considered 'normal' or even beneficial to success in the business world. The greater the degree, the greater the potential problem for organisations, as evidence suggests people possessing high levels of these traits may have a negative impact on organisational performance and create interpersonal difficulties in the workplace.

How do they get hired?

Organisations often actively recruit for people who possess the desirable side of these traits. For example, the desirable trait of charisma maps onto the negative trait of superficial charm.

How do they perform on the job?

Research has found evidence of individuals with high levels of traits associated with all three kinds of dysfunction working within organisations. Their success appears to reside in an ability to appear as a good employee, regardless of actual performance.

Psychopathic individuals perform as little work personally as is possible, preferring to exploit colleagues to accomplish tasks. Narcissistic and Machiavellian individuals appear to be able to perform conceptual, task-related elements of a job (if they choose to) but not contextual elements. Lack of performance is covered by a superficial façade that is presented to those who have influence. Narcissists and psychopaths, in particular, make use of their charm and charisma to convince others that they are loyal and hard working employees.

What happens next?

The impact of working with an individual who possesses a personality dysfunction can be immense. Psychopaths, in particular, can have an extremely negative impact upon co-workers.
The impact of an individual with a personality dysfunction may not be limited to unpleasant experiences for co-workers. Narcissism has been linked to counterproductive work behaviour, risky decision-making, resource destruction and even white-collar crime (see Brunell et al, 2008).

How do you manage such employees?

Once hired, it is difficult to identify and manage an individual with personality dysfunction. 360 degree appraisal systems may reveal if there are inconsistencies in how an individual is seen by peers, subordinates and managers. Inconsistent evaluations are commonly found when an individual is high on dysfunctional traits.

Those with high levels of psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism thrive best in fast-paced, transitional organisations with low levels of bureaucracy. Consistent enforcement of organisational policies, thorough appraisal systems and careful succession planning, may help to stop the individual with personality dysfunction from manipulating the organisation to their own ends.

This is an extract from an article in the May issue of Professional Manager.

Holly Andrews is a lecturer in Worcester Business School, with previous experience within recruitment and training. Holly is currently completing a PhD in Occupational Psychology as well as working towards Chartered status with the British Psychological Society. She is Secretary of the West Midlands Branch of the British Psychological Society and a member of the Division of Occupational Psychology. She has written articles for both academic and professional journals.
Dr Jan Francis-Smythe is an Occupational Psychologist (HPC Registered), Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. She is the Director of the Centre for People at Work (www.worc.ac.uk/cpaw) in the Business School at the University of Worcester.

 
References for the full article

* The terms psychopathic, psychopath, narcissistic, narcissist and Machiavellian are used to refer to individuals possessing high levels of traits associated with these disorders, not a clinical diagnosis.

** The term “personality dysfunction” is not intended to reflect clinical diagnoses in this context. In this article, the term is used to describe individuals who possess the extreme personality traits associated with psychopathy, narcissism or Machiavellianism. The degree to which the traits are present may not be sufficient to warrant a diagnosis, but could still impact upon organisational performance.

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed. Text revision). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
Brunell, A. B., Gentry, W. A., Campbell, W. K., Hoffman, B. J., Kuhnert, K. W., & DeMarree, K. G. (2008). Leader emergence: The case of the narcissistic leader. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(12), 1663-1676.
Cleckley, H. (1976). The Mask of Sanity, 5th ed. St Louis: Mosby.
Christie, R., & Geis, F. (1970). Studies in Machiavellianism. New York: Academic Press.
Hare, R. D. (1991). Hare psychopathy checklist revised: Technical manual. Multi-Health Systems.
Paulhus, D. L., & Williams, K. M. (2002). The dark triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Journal of Research in Personality, 36(6), 556-563.

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