Personality and Individual Differences 101 (2016) 413–418

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Personality and Individual Differences

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/paid

The bright and dark sides of leaders' dark triad traits: Effects on
subordinates' career success and well-being
Judith Volmer a,⁎, Iris K. Koch a, Anja S. Göritz b
a
Institute of Psychology at the University of Bamberg, Germany
b
Institute of Psychology at the University of Freiburg, Germany

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Leaders play a pivotal role in organizations. In the present study, we investigated the role of leaders' Dark Triad
Received 26 April 2016 traits (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) on employees' objective career success (i.e., salary
Received in revised form 15 June 2016 and number of promotions) and subjective career success (i.e., career satisfaction). Further, we investigated
Accepted 20 June 2016
how leaders' Dark Triad traits affect employees' well-being (i.e., emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction). In
Available online xxxx
a longitudinal study with two measurement points and a time lag of 3 months, 811 employees from the private
Keywords:
and public sector in Germany participated. Results from multiple regressions showed that leaders' Dark Triad
Dark triad traits had, depending on the specific Dark Triad trait, bright and dark sides for employees. Narcissism turned
Leadership out to be the brightest Dark Triad trait with benefits for subordinates' objective and subjective career success,
Career success and with no adverse effects on subordinates' well-being. Extending previous research by investigating the link
Well-being between leaders' Dark Triad traits on subordinates' outcomes, we found evidence for the assumption that Machi-
avellianism and psychopathy have detrimental effects, also when considering subordinates' career success and
well-being. Implications for leadership and career research are derived.
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recently, there has been an increasing interest in dark personality the role of leaders' Dark Triad traits on subordinates' work-related
traits in the workplace as predictors of organizational outcomes well-being (i.e., emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction).
(Spain, Harms, & LeBreton, 2014), especially in the Dark Triad. The Although the Dark Triad traits are generally considered as being un-
Dark Triad is a common higher-order construct consisting of the three desirable, research has pointed to these traits' potential bright side in or-
sub-dimensions narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism ganizational contexts (Judge & LePine, 2007; Wisse, Barelds, &
(Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Narcissists are characterized by a sense of Rietzschel, 2015). Specifically, Judge, Piccolo, and Kosalka (2009)
grandiosity, a high need for admiration from others and ego-reinforce- argue that dark leader traits can have positive as well as negative conse-
ment. Psychopaths are individuals characterized by deficient self-con- quences for organizations and influence leader emergence and leader
trol, impaired affect regulation, and high impulsivity. Finally, people effectiveness.
high in Machiavellianism can be described as acting in a highly exploit- In our study, we investigate whether leaders' Dark Triad traits affect
ative and emotionally cold way when interacting with others. subordinates' objective (i.e., salary and number of promotions) and sub-
The Dark Triad traits are related to important workplace outcomes, jective (i.e., career satisfaction) career success and subordinates' well-
such as career success and subordinate well-being (O'Boyle, Forsyth, being (i.e., emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction). The majority of
Banks, & McDaniel, 2012, Hirschi & Jaensch, 2015; Spurk, Keller, & existing studies on the Dark Triad traits has adopted a cross-sectional
Hirschi, 2015). However, most researchers have studied subordinates' research design, limiting conclusions about causality (e.g., Hirschi &
Dark Triad traits and their relationship with work outcomes. We Jaensch, 2015; Jonason, Wee, & Li, 2015; Mathieu, Neumann, Hare, &
adopted a different approach by examining leaders' dark traits, assum- Babiak, 2014; Spurk et al., 2015).
ing that leaders' personality affects subordinates' objective career suc- Mathieu et al. (2014) adopted a similar approach as we do in our
cess (i.e., salary and number of promotions) as well as subjective study. They investigated how supervisors' psychopathic traits are asso-
career success (i.e., career satisfaction). Furthermore, we investigated ciated with subordinates' well-being (i.e., job satisfaction, psychological
distress, work-family conflict). Using the Business-Scan 360 (B-Scan
360, Babiak & Hare, in preparation), they found in two cross-sectional
⁎ Corresponding author at: Institute of Psychology, Work & Organizational Psychology studies with Canadian employees a negative association between
Group, University of Bamberg, An der Weberei 5, 96047 Bamberg, Germany. leaders' psychopathy (as perceived by their subordinates) and

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.06.046
0191-8869/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
414 J. Volmer et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 101 (2016) 413–418

subordinates' well-being. Also considering the leader-subordinate rela- related to (b) subordinates' subjective career success (i.e., career
tionship, Wisse et al. (2015) investigated in a cross-sectional study the satisfaction).
link between employee and supervisor Dark Triad traits and perceived
employee innovative behavior at work.
2. Leaders' personality and followers' well-being
Yet, besides a longitudinal study approach with a relevant real-life
sample, a simultaneous consideration of all three leader Dark Triad
We assumed that all Dark Triad traits are negatively related to sub-
traits together with the investigation of both career success and well-
ordinates' well-being (i.e., emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction). Emo-
being outcomes is still missing. Our study investigates the perception
tional exhaustion refers to the stress dimension of burnout and includes
of the full range of leaders' Dark Triad traits on both, employees' career
feelings of being exhausted by the emotional demands of an individual's
success and well-being by means of a longitudinal study with a relevant
work (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001). Job satisfaction refers to an
working sample. Our approach helps gaining a more differential insight
individual's evaluation of his or her job or facets of that job (Spector,
into the potential bright and dark sides of leaders' personality for em-
1985). The common core of all three Dark Triad traits is social aversion,
ployees' vocational experiences.
emotional coldness, aggressiveness and a tendency to manipulate
others (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Hogan and Hogan (2001) assume
1. Leaders' personality and followers' career success
that subordinates suffer from bad leadership as they have limited possi-
bilities to defend themselves.
Objective career success refers to observable attainments one has
In detail, narcissistic leaders lack empathy and therefore are likely to
achieved in his or her career, including salary, salary growth, status,
make selfish decisions without taking in mind their subordinates' needs
and promotions (Abele, Spurk, & Volmer, 2011; Ng, Eby, Sorensen, &
and interests (Rosenthal & Pittinsky, 2006). Therefore subordinates
Feldman, 2005). Subjective career success is an individual's subjective
with narcissistic leaders should show lower levels of well-being as
evaluation of his or her career progress, including career satisfaction
they are left alone with their problems or concerns they face at work.
(Abele et al., 2011; Heslin, 2005).
Shurden (2015) found that leaders high in narcissism have worse rela-
We assumed that leaders' narcissism is beneficial for their subordi-
tionships with their subordinates, which in consequence negatively im-
nates' objective and subjective career success. Even though narcissists
pacts subordinates' job satisfaction.
have difficulty in maintaining interpersonal relationships, they also
Psychopaths strive for self-enrichment and have no concerns. Ac-
value others in case those others affirm their own self-image and narcis-
cording to Boddy (2006), psychopathic leaders do not shy away from
sistic self-views (Morf & Rhodewalt, 2001). By promoting their subordi-
exploiting their subordinates and using them to pursue their own
nates' career development, narcissistic leaders may fulfill their own
goals. Additionally, they are neither emotionally attached to their subor-
demand for feeling grandiose and for admiration (Ames, Rose, &
dinates nor concerned with the effects their behaviors have on other
Anderson, 2006). Consequently, subordinates of highly narcissistic
people (Boddy, 2006). It was found that leaders' psychopathy predicts
leaders should attain higher objective career success and accordingly re-
subordinates' psychological distress (Mathieu, Babiak, Jones,
port greater career satisfaction.
Neumann, & Hare, 2012). Machiavellians also act selfishly, manipulate
Hypothesis 1. Leader narcissism is positively related to (a) subordinates' and exploit others to achieve their long-term goals (Jones & Paulhus,
objective career success (i.e., salary, promotions) and positively related to 2011). Therefore they show high levels of impulse control and are emo-
(b) subordinates' subjective career success (i.e., career satisfaction). tionally callous (Jones & Paulhus, 2011). Machiavellians are character-
ized by low levels of conscience and remorse (Rauthmann & Will,
We expected psychopathy to be negatively related to subordinates'
2011). Therefore we assume that leaders' psychopathy and Machiavel-
objective and subjective career success. Psychopaths act impulsively
lianism is negatively related to subordinates well-being, as leaders
and recklessly, pursuing their own goals regardless of interpersonal
with high values in these traits are likely to recklessly pursue their self-
consequences. They pay little attention to their reputation and are emo-
ish goals and do not consider their subordinates' needs.
tionally callous (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Therefore, we assumed that
subordinates who have leaders who are high in psychopathy are objec- Hypothesis 4. Leader narcissism is positively related to (a) subordinates'
tively less successful in their careers, as psychopathic leaders act pri- emotional exhaustion and (b) negatively related to subordinates' job
marily in a selfish way. Further, psychopaths score high in arrogance, satisfaction.
emotional shallowness, and show low levels of anxiety, guilt, or remorse
(O'Boyle et al., 2012). Consequently, subordinates should also report Hypothesis 5. Leader psychopathy is positively related to (a) subordi-
lower subjective career success. nates' emotional exhaustion and (b) negatively related to subordinates'
Differentiating between the three Dark Triad traits, researchers have job satisfaction.
argued that in comparison with narcissism, Machiavellianism and psy- Hypothesis 6. Leader Machiavellianism is positively related to (a) subor-
chopathy form a “Malicious Two”, as these traits are uniquely related dinates' emotional exhaustion and (b) negatively related to subordinates'
to stronger malevolence and negative perceptions from others. By con- job satisfaction.
trast, narcissism is perceived as “brighter” (Rauthmann & Kolar, 2013, p.
585). We assumed that subordinates who experience their leaders as
being high in Machiavellianism are objectively and subjectively less suc- 3. Method
cessful in their careers. Machiavellians ruthlessly pursue their personal
goals, possess a strong belief in the effectiveness of manipulative tactics, 3.1. Participants
have a cynical world view, and put expediency above principle (O'Boyle
et al., 2012). In sum, we postulate the following hypotheses: Data were collected via a German online panel (Göritz, 2014) during
May and August 2015. As outlined by others (e.g. Spurk et al., 2015), the
Hypothesis 2. Leader psychopathy is negatively related to (a) subordi- data quality of online panels can be considered as high (Kubicek,
nates' objective career success (i.e., salary, promotions) and negatively re- Paskvan, & Korunka, 2014; Ng & Feldman, 2010). We tested our hypoth-
lated to (b) subordinates' subjective career success (i.e., career eses using a longitudinal research design with two measurement points
satisfaction). with a time lag of 3 months. We chose a time frame of 3 months to hold
seasonal effects on business activities constant and to keep the attrition
Hypothesis 3. Leader Machiavellianism is negatively related to (a) subor-
rate as low as possible. Our sample consisted of 811 subordinates (56.6%
dinates' objective career success (i.e., salary, promotions) and negatively
women, 43.5% men) with an average age of 46.7 years (SD = 10.4). All
 J. Volmer et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 101 (2016) 413–418 415

participants had a direct supervisor and 26.6% of the participants held a 3.3.5. Control variables
leading position. Participants worked on average 35.2 h per week We included some control variables that have been shown to be rel-
(SD = 8.9) and had on average 12.3 years of tenure (SD = 10.5). Re- evant for the prediction of career success (Ng et al., 2005) and well-
garding their education level, 52.8% had an O/A-level education, 33.5% being (Sonnentag, 2015), and thus are relevant for our sample. We con-
had a university degree, 3.5% a doctorate, and the remaining 10.2% of trolled for age, gender (0 = female, 1 = male), and hours worked per
participants had a low education level (9 years of school or less). Re- week (open question).
spondents worked in diverse industries with the majority of partici-
pants working in the healthcare and social services industry (18.7%), 4. Results
followed by the public administration industry (12.3%), and the
manufacturing industry (10.1%). 4.1. Preliminary analyses

First, we used Mplus Version 7.3 (Muthén & Muthén, 1998–2012) to

3.2. Procedure
calculate confirmatory factor analyses to show that the three Dark Triad
sub-dimensions are empirically distinguishable from each other. The
Potential respondents received an e-mail invitation that included
analyses revealed a better model fit for the three-factor solution
the link to the web-based study and information about the study's con-
(χ2 = 64.714, degrees of freedom [df] = 32, comparative fit index
tent and procedure. At Time 1 (T1), we measured the Dark Triad traits of
[CFI] = 0.996, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] =
their direct supervisor as perceived by the follower and the control var-
0.04, standardized root mean square residual [SRMR] = 0.02) than for
iables (i.e., age, gender, and working hours). At Time 2 (T2), we assessed
a one-factor solution (χ2 = 1637.63, df = 54, CFI = 0.82, RMSEA =
objective (i.e., salary and number of promotions) and subjective career
0.20, SRMR = 0.06). Additionally, we calculated the Average Variance
success (i.e., career satisfaction) as well as subordinates' well-being
Extracted (AVE) and the composite reliability (CR) for every latent con-
(i.e., emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction).
struct (e.g. narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism). The AVE
values were all N0.62 indicating a good convergent validity of the latent
3.3. Measures constructs. The CR values were all N 0.99 indicating a good reliability and
internal consistency of the latent constructs. Second, means, standard
3.3.1. Dark Triad deviations, and correlations of the study variables are shown in Table 1.
We applied the well-accepted 12-item Dirty Dozen scale to assess
narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism (four items on 9-point 4.2. Hypotheses testing
Likert scales for each of the Dark Triad factors, Jonason & Webster,
2010) of followers' direct supervisor as perceived by them. Exemplary We conducted multiple linear regressions for each of the outcome
items were “My supervisor tends to want others to admire him/her.” variables controlling for age, gender, and working hours. In all models
(narcissism), “My supervisor tends to lack remorse.” (psychopathy), the VIF values were well below 0.99 and the tolerance statistics above
and “My supervisor tends to manipulate others to get his/her way.” 1.01, which indicates that there is no collinearity. Regarding objective
(Machiavellianism). Cronbachs' α was 0.93 with narcissism, 0.87 with career success, we found a positive effect of follower-perceived leader
psychopathy and 0.93 with Machiavellianism. narcissism on subordinates' salary (β = 0.14, p b 0.01) and promotions
(β = 0.14, p b 0.05). Leader Machiavellianism had a marginally negative
effect on subordinates' salary (β = −0.10, p b 0.07), but was unrelated
3.3.2. Objective career success to the number of promotions (β = −0.08, p = 0.16). Leader psychop-
We used salary and number of promotions as indicators of followers' athy was neither related to subordinates' salary (β = − 0.05, p =
objective careers success as these are the most widely used indicators of 0.35), nor to the number of promotions (β = −0.05, p = 0.39). For fol-
objective career success (Ng et al., 2005). To assess monthly salary be- lower subjective career success, we found a marginally positive effect of
fore taxes (i.e., salary, Judge, Higgins, Thoresen, & Barrick, 1999), partic- leader narcissism on career satisfaction (β = 0.11, p b 0.06) and a neg-
ipants were offered 11 categories that indicated the salary in Euro they ative effect for leader Machiavellianism on career satisfaction
earned per month ranging from 1 (up to 999) to 11 (10.000 or more). Re- (β = −0.18, p b 0.01). Leader psychopathy was unrelated to follower
garding number of promotions, respondents were asked to name the career satisfaction (β = −0.09, p = 0.13). Findings regarding the asso-
number of promotions they had received so far (open question). ciations of perceived leaders' traits and employees' career outcomes
(i.e., objective and subjective career success) are depicted in Table 2.
In sum, Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 3 were (partly) supported, where-
3.3.3. Subjective career success
as Hypothesis 2 was not.
To assess subjective career success, we applied the 5-item career sat-
Regarding follower well-being indicators (i.e., emotional exhaustion
isfaction scale (5-point Likert scale, sample item “I am satisfied with the
and job satisfaction), leader psychopathy and Machiavellianism were
progress I have made toward meeting my overall career goals.”,
both positively related to follower emotional exhaustion (β = 0.11,
(Greenhaus, Parasuraman, & Wormley, 1990; Spurk, Abele, & Volmer,
p b 0.05 and β = 0.16, p b 0.01, respectively), and leader narcissism
2011). Cronbach's α was 0.92.
was unrelated to follower emotional exhaustion (β = 0.01, p = 0.82).
With regard to follower job satisfaction, findings showed a negative ef-
3.3.4. Psychological well-being fect of leader psychopathy (β = −0.15, p b 0.01) and no effects of nar-
For the assessment of well-being, measures of emotional exhaustion cissism and Machiavellianism (β = 0.09, p = 0.13, and β = −0.09, p =
and job satisfaction were applied. To assess emotional exhaustion the 8- 0.12, respectively). Findings regarding the associations of perceived
item subscale of the German Oldenburg Burnout Inventory was used (4- leaders' traits and employees' well-being (i.e., emotional exhaustion
point Likert scale, sample item “After my work, I regularly feel worn out and job satisfaction) are depicted in Table 3. In sum, Hypothesis 5 and
and weary.” Demerouti, Bakker, Vardakou, & Kantas, 2003). Cronbach's Hypothesis 6 were (partly) supported, whereas Hypothesis 4 was not.
α was 0.86. We measured job satisfaction with the 4-item Brief Index of
Affective Job Satisfaction (Thompson & Phua, 2012). Participants indi- 5. Discussion
cated on 5-point Likert scales (1 = totally disagree to 5 = totally
agree) how much they agreed with each item. A sample item was “I Our longitudinal field study in which we investigated the differential
find real enjoyment in my job.”. Cronbach's α was 0.93. effects of follower perceptions of leaders' Dark Triad traits on followers'
416 J. Volmer et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 101 (2016) 413–418

Table 1
Means, standard deviations, and intercorrelations among study variables.

M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1. Follower age 46.74 10.38 –

2. Follower gender 0.44 0.50 0.08⁎ –
3. Follower working hours 35.22 8.89 −0.08⁎ 0.27⁎⁎⁎ –
4. Leader narcissism 4.92 2.19 −0.01 −0.03 0.06 –
5. Leader psychopathy 4.40 2.03 −0.08⁎ 0.07 0.09⁎ 0.74⁎⁎⁎ –
6. Leader Machiavellianism 4.59 2.32 −0.06 0.01 0.10⁎⁎ 0.75⁎⁎⁎ 0.76⁎⁎⁎ –
7. Follower salary 3.72 1.93 0.05 0.24⁎⁎⁎ 0.40⁎⁎⁎ 0.05 0.02 0.01 –
8. Follower promotions 1.84 2.01 0.25⁎⁎⁎ 0.15⁎⁎⁎ 0.16⁎⁎⁎ 0.02 −0.04 −0.04 0.34⁎⁎⁎ –
9. Follower career satisfaction 3.63 0.89 0.10⁎⁎ 0.06 0.12⁎⁎ −0.09⁎ −0.13⁎⁎⁎ −0.16⁎⁎⁎ 0.31⁎⁎⁎ 0.32⁎⁎⁎ –
10. Follower emotional exhaustion 2.23 0.58 −0.14⁎⁎⁎ −0.07 0.03 0.21⁎⁎⁎ 0.25⁎⁎⁎ 0.26⁎⁎⁎ −0.08⁎ −0.09⁎ −0.29⁎⁎⁎ –
11. Follower job satisfaction 3.68 0.86 0.11⁎⁎ −0.02 0.05 −0.09⁎ −0.16⁎⁎⁎ −0.14⁎⁎⁎ 0.12⁎⁎ 0.20⁎⁎⁎ 0.58⁎⁎⁎ −0.47⁎⁎⁎

Note. Gender: 0 = female, 1 = male;

⁎ p b 0.05
⁎⁎ p b 0.01
⁎⁎⁎ p b 0.001

objective and subjective career success as well as their well-being, loyal subordinates and/or try to make subordinates feel grateful in
showed that leaders' dark personality had, depending on the specific order to enhance their own self-esteem.
Dark Triad trait, bright and dark sides. Narcissism turned out to be the Unexpectedly, leader narcissism did not predict subordinates' well-
brightest Dark Triad trait with benefits for subordinates' objective and being. We expected a positive effect of leaders' narcissism on subordi-
subjective career success, and with no adverse effects on subordinates' nates' emotional exhaustion and a negative effect on subordinates' job
well-being. Extending previous research by investigating the link be- satisfaction, as narcissistic persons lack empathy and do not consider
tween leaders' Dark Triad traits on subordinates' outcomes, we found their subordinates' needs and interests (Rosenthal & Pittinsky, 2006).
evidence for the assumption that the “Malicious Two” (Rauthmann & Unlike Shurden (2015), who found a negative indirect effect of leaders'
Kolar, 2013, p. 585) (i.e., Machiavellianism and psychopathy) have det- narcissism on subordinates' job satisfaction through leader-member ex-
rimental effects, also when considering subordinates' career success and change, in our study leaders' narcissism was unrelated to follower job
well-being. satisfaction. As expected, leaders' Machiavellianism and psychopathy
Subordinates who rated their leaders high in narcissism reported were unfavorable for subordinates' career success and well-being. Lead-
higher own objective career success in terms of salary and number of er Machiavellianism was marginally negatively related to subordinates'
promotions. Thus it seems that leaders' narcissism is beneficial for objective career success (salary), and leader psychopathy was negative-
their subordinates' careers. This is interesting, as the Dark Triad traits ly related to subordinates' career satisfaction. Psychopaths as well as
consist of socially malevolent personalities that are characterized by Machiavellians recklessly pursue their own goals and do not shy away
high levels of (longer-term) disagreeableness and thus are considered from manipulating others (O'Boyle et al., 2012). Psychopaths are likely
to be maladaptive (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). However, as Morf and to claim the credit for their subordinates' work or blame them for
Rhodewalt (2001) point out, narcissists continually seek for positive their own faults (Boddy, 2006). Additionally, leader Machiavellianism
feedback and prefer relationships with persons who affirm their own was positively related to subordinates' emotional exhaustion, and lead-
self-esteem, such as persons with positive qualities (Campbell, 1999). er psychopathy was negatively related to subordinates' job satisfaction.
It might be that by promoting their subordinates' career narcissistic This may be due to the fact that persons high in Machiavellianism and in
leaders try to retain subordinates to get continuing admiration from psychopathy do not care for others and do not show empathy (Boddy,
2006; Jones & Paulhus, 2011). In sum, our findings support
Rauthmann and Kolar (2013) that, in comparison to narcissism, Machi-
avellianism and psychopathy form the “Malicious Two” and have more
Table 2 detrimental effects.
Multiple linear regressions of career success on the Dark Triad.

Follower salary Follower Follower career

promotions satisfaction Table 3
β p β p β p Multiple linear regressions of follower well-being on the Dark Triad.

Step 1 Follower emotional Follower job

Follower age 0.05 0.136 0.26 0.000⁎⁎⁎ 0.11 0.003⁎⁎ exhaustion satisfaction
Follower gender 0.13 0.000⁎⁎⁎ 0.09 0.024 0.02 0.671
β p β p
Follower working 0.01 0.000⁎⁎⁎ 0.15 0.000⁎⁎⁎ 0.12 0.001⁎⁎
hours Step 1
R2 0.18 0.10 0.03 Follower age −0.12 0.001⁎ 0.10 0.003⁎⁎
Step 2 Follower gender 0.04 0.086 −0.04 0.252
Follower age 0.04 0.219 0.25 0.000⁎⁎⁎ 0.09 0.012⁎ Follower working hours 0.00 0.235 0.06 0.120
Follower gender 0.14 0.000⁎⁎⁎ 0.09 0.015⁎ 0.02 0.549 R2 0.02 0.01
Follower working 0.37 0.000⁎⁎⁎ 0.16 0.000⁎⁎⁎ 0.14 0.000⁎⁎⁎ Step 2
hours Follower age −0.10 0.006⁎ 0.09 0.015⁎
Leader narcissism 0.13 0.015⁎ 0.14 0.015⁎ 0.11 0.065 Follower gender −.07 0.067 −0.03 0.370
Leader psychopathy −0.05 0.370 −0.06 0.351 −0.08 0.157 Follower working hours 0.02 0.64 0.07 0.048⁎
Leader −0.09 0.092 −0.09 0.138 −0.18 0.002⁎⁎ Leader narcissism 0.01 0.831 0.08 0.153
Machiavellianism Leader psychopathy 0.11 0.071 −0.14 0.017⁎
R2 0.19 0.11 0.06 Leader Machiavellianism 0.17 0.004⁎⁎ −0.09 0.109
R2 0.09 0.04
⁎ p b 0.05
⁎⁎ p b 0.01 ⁎ p b 0.05
⁎⁎⁎ p b 0.001 ⁎⁎ p b 0.01
 J. Volmer et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 101 (2016) 413–418 417

6. Strengths and limitations Göritz, A. S. (2014). Determinants of the starting rate and the completion rate in online
panel studies. In M. Callegaro, R. Baker, J. Bethlehem, A. S. Göritz, J. A. Krosnick, & P.
J. Lavrakas (Eds.), Online panel research: A data quality perspective (pp. 154–170).
Our study with a consideration of leaders' Dark Triad traits and both Chichester, UK: Wiley.
follower career success and well-being allowed insights into the associ- Greenhaus, J. H., Parasuraman, S., & Wormley, W. M. (1990). Effects of race on organiza-
tional experiences, job performance evaluations, and career outcomes. Academy of
ation of leader Dark Triad traits with employees' vocational experiences. Management Journal, 33(1), 64–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/256352.
The present study is one of the rare studies that have investigated the Heslin, P. A. (2005). Conceptualizing and evaluating career success. Journal of
effects of leaders' Dark Triad traits, which is important as leaders play Organizational Behavior, 26(2), 113–136. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/job.270.
Hirschi, A., & Jaensch, V. K. (2015). Narcissism and career success: Occupational self-effi-
a pivotal role in organizations. A strength of the study is its longitudinal
cacy and career engagement as mediators. Personality and Individual Differences, 77,
design in which we first measured leaders' Dark Triad as perceived by 205–208. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.01.002.
the subordinate and 3 months later we measured outcome variables Hogan, R., & Hogan, J. (2001). Assessing leadership: A view from the dark side.
International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 9(1–2), 40–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.
on the level of the subordinate. Although this chronological order is at
1111/1468-2389.00162.
best a hint but not a proof that leader Dark Triad traits causally influence Jonason, P. K., & Webster, G. D. (2010). The dirty dozen: A concise measure of the dark
subordinates' career success and well-being it precludes reverse causa- triad. Psychological Assessment, 22(2), 420–432. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0019265.
tion only and it reduces methodological artifacts. Moreover, the fact that Jonason, P. K., Wee, S., & Li, N. P. (2015). Competition, autonomy, and prestige: Mecha-
nisms through which the dark triad predict job satisfaction. Journal of Personality
we found opposite effects of some of the three Dark Triad traits is an in- and Individual Differences, 72, 112–116.
dication that subordinates who are relatively unsuccessful in their ca- Jones, D. N., & Paulhus, D. L. (2011). Differentiating the dark triad within the interpersonal
reer and/or whose well-being is relatively low have not simply circumplex. In L. M. Horowitz, & S. Strack (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal psycholo-
gy: Theory, research, assessment, and therapeutic interventions (pp. 249–269). New
ascribed negative characteristics to their leaders in an undifferentiated York: Wiley & Sons.
manner; thus suggesting that the results do not merely reflect a halo ef- Judge, T. A., & LePine, J. A. (2007). The bright and dark sides of personality: Implications
fect. Rather, subordinates who had perceived their leader as narcissistic for personnel selection in individual and team contexts. In J. Langan-Fox, C. L.
Cooper, R. J. Klimoski, J. Langan-Fox, C. L. Cooper, & R. J. Klimoski (Eds.), Research com-
enjoyed comparatively high career success 3 months later, whereas panion to the dysfunctional workplace: Management challenges and symptoms
subordinates who had perceived their leader as Machiavellian reported (pp. 332–355). Northampton, MA, US: Edward Elgar Publishing.
comparatively low career success 3 months later. A further strength of Judge, T. A., Higgins, C. A., Thoresen, C. J., & Barrick, M. R. (1999). The big five person-
ality traits, general mental ability, and career success across the life span.
the study is the large and heterogeneous real-life sample of employees. Personnel Psychology, 52(3), 621–652. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.
Because the respondents had diverse occupational backgrounds the 1999.tb00174.x.
generalizability of the results to different occupational domains is likely. Judge, T. A., Piccolo, R. F., & Kosalka, T. (2009). The bright and dark sides of leader traits: A
review and theoretical extension of the leader trait paradigm. The Leadership
Our study dealt with employees' perceptions of their leaders' Dark
Quarterly, 20(6), 855–875. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.09.004.
Triad traits. Thus, we did not measure leaders' own perceptions. More- Kubicek, B., Paskvan, M., & Korunka, C. (2014). Development and validation of an instru-
over, we did not ask employees to rate their own Dark Triad traits, ment for assessing job demands arising from accelerated change: The intensification
which would have allowed examining specific leader-member Dark of job demands scale (IDS). European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology,
24, 1–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2014.979160.
Triad configurations. In addition, as our study was conducted with a Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual Review of
German sample, the findings should be generalized to different cultures Psychology, 52, 397–422. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.397.
with caution. Findings should be replicated with samples from different Mathieu, C., Babiak, P., Jones, D. N., Neumann, C., & Hare, R. D. (2012). What are the effect
of psychopathic traits in a supervisor on employees' psychological distress? Journal of
countries. Organizational Culture, Communications, and Conflict, 16(2), 91–94.
Mathieu, C., Neumann, C. S., Hare, R. D., & Babiak, P. (2014). A dark side of leadership: Cor-
porate psychopathy and its influence on employee well-being and job satisfaction.
7. Conclusion Personality and Individual Differences, 59, 83–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.
2013.11.010.
Our findings suggest that organizations should pay attention to Morf, C. C., & Rhodewalt, F. (2001). Unraveling the paradoxes of narcissism: A dynamic
self-regulatory processing model. Psychological Inquiry, 12(4), 177–196. http://dx.
leaders' Machiavellianism and psychopathy due to their detrimental ef-
doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1204_1.
fects. This is relevant when filling leader positions, and it is relevant Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998–2012). Mplus user's guide (7th ed.). Los Angeles, CA:
when dealing with existing leaders in the organization. Existing leaders Author.
should be made aware of the effect their personality may have on their Ng, T. W. H., & Feldman, D. C. (2010). The effects of organizational embeddedness on de-
velopment of social capital and human capital. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95,
employees and might be instructed in effective leadership styles (e.g., 696–712. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0019150.
transformational leadership) as a compensation for the potential nega- Ng, T. W. H., Eby, L. T., Sorensen, K. L., & Feldman, D. C. (2005). Predictors of objective and
tive effects of the Dark Triad traits. subjective career success: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 58(2), 367–408.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2005.00515.x.
O'Boyle, E. H., Jr., Forsyth, D. R., Banks, G. C., & McDaniel, M. A. (2012). A meta-analysis of
Acknowledgements the dark triad and work behavior: A social exchange perspective. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 97(3), 557–579. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0025679.
Paulhus, D. L., & Williams, K. M. (2002). The dark triad of personality: Narcissism, Machi-
We would like to thank Alexandra Hagemeister for her help in data avellianism, and psychopathy. Journal of Research in Personality, 36(6), 556–563.
preparation and project work. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(02)00505-6.
Rauthmann, J. F., & Kolar, G. P. (2013). The perceived attractiveness and traits of the dark
triad: Narcissists are perceived as hot, Machiavellians and psychopaths not.
References Personality and Individual Differences, 54(5), 582–586. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
paid.2012.11.005.
Abele, A., Spurk, D., & Volmer, J. (2011). The construct of career success: Measurement is- Rauthmann, J. F., & Will, T. (2011). Proposing a multidimensional Machiavellianism con-
sues and an empirical example. Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung, 43(3), 195–206. ceptualization. Social Behavior and Personality, 39(3), 391–404. http://dx.doi.org/10.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12651-010-0034-6. 2224/sbp.2011.39.3.391.
Ames, D. R., Rose, P., & Anderson, C. P. (2006). The NPI-16 as a short measure of narcis- Rosenthal, S. A., & Pittinsky, T. L. (2006). Narcissistic leadership. The Leadership Quarterly,
sism. Journal of Research in Personality, 40(4), 440–450. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. 17(6), 617–633. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.10.005.
jrp.2005.03.002. Shurden, S. B. (2015). Identifying the effects of narcissistic leadership on employee job
Babiak, P., & Hare, R. D. (in preparation). The B-scan 360 manual. satisfaction: A study within the accounting profession. (Doctoral dissertation), Re-
Boddy, C. R. (2006). The dark side of management decisions: Organisational psychopaths. trieved from) http://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/1329
Management Decision, 44(10), 1461–1475. doi: doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ Sonnentag, S. (2015). Dynamics of well-being. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology
00251740610715759. and Organizational Behavior, 2, 261–293. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-
Campbell, W. K. (1999). Narcissism and romantic attraction. Journal of Personality and orgpsych-032414-111347.
Social Psychology, 77(6), 1254–1270. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.77.6.1254. Spain, S. M., Harms, P., & LeBreton, J. M. (2014). The dark side of personality at work.
Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Vardakou, I., & Kantas, A. (2003). The convergent validity of Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35(S1), 41–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/job.
two burnout instruments: A multitrait-multimethod analysis. European Journal of 1894.
Psychological Assessment, 19(1), 12–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1027//1015-5759.19.1. Spector, P. E. (1985). Measurement of human service staff satisfaction: Development of
12. the job satisfaction survey. American Journal of Community Psychology, 13(6), 693.
418 J. Volmer et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 101 (2016) 413–418

Spurk, D., Abele, A. E., & Volmer, J. (2011). The career satisfaction scale: Longitudinal mea- Thompson, E. R., & Phua, F. T. T. (2012). A brief index of affective job satisfaction. Group &
surement invariance and latent growth analysis. Journal of Occupational and Organization Management, 37(3), 275–307. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/
Organizational Psychology, 84, 315–326. 1059601111434201.
Spurk, D., Keller, A. C., & Hirschi, A. (2015). Do bad guys get ahead or fall behind? Rela- Wisse, B., Barelds, D. P. H., & Rietzschel, E. F. (2015). How innovative is your employee?
tionships of the dark triad of personality with objective and subjective career success. The role of employee and supervisor dark triad personality traits in supervisor per-
Social Psychological and Personality Science. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/ ceptions of employee innovative behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 82,
1948550615609735. 158–162. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.03.020.