October 8, 2008
the narcissism of leadership
Narcissists tend to become leaders.
“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.”
She added, “It’s not surprising that narcissists become leaders. They like power, they are egotistical, and they are usually charming and extroverted. But the problem is, they don’t necessarily make better leaders.”
The results were based on three studies that tested for narcissistic traits then put teams in charge of fictional scenarios to see who became the leader of each group.
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