All the working world’s a stage: Narcissism, work values, and vocational preferences

Although narcissism has been shown to be an important predictor of both positive and negative outcomes in the workplace, narcissists themselves are not equally distributed across jobs or industries. Prior research has established that narcissists may be attracted to some professions and not others, but the reasons for these preferences remain largely speculative. Building on prior literature, the present study utilizes the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Concept model to differentiate between the two motivational drivers of narcissism (admiration and rivalry) and examine how these motivations impact vocational preferences in an online sample of 386 full-time U.S. employees. Further, we investigate the mechanisms through which these preferences are made by testing the mediating role of work values. By understanding how two dimensions of narcissism facilitate interest in different vocations, we expand upon previous research on dark personality and career preferences and provide another way for organizations to pre-emptively identify workers with potentially derailing personality characteristics. Finding that work values mediate the relationship between narcissism and vocational interests reveals that there may be value in exploring this explanatory mechanism with other bright and dark traits.

Although narcissism has been shown to be an important predictor of both positive and negative outcomes in the workplace, narcissists themselves are not equally distributed across jobs or industries. Prior research has established that narcissists may be attracted to some professions and not others, but the reasons for these preferences remain largely speculative. Building on prior literature, the present study utilizes the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Concept model to differentiate between the two motivational drivers of narcissism (admiration and rivalry) and examine how these motivations impact vocational preferences in an online sample of 386 full-time U.S. employees. Further, we investigate the mechanisms through which these preferences are made by testing the mediating role of work values. By understanding how two dimensions of narcissism facilitate interest in different vocations, we expand upon previous research on dark personality and career preferences and provide another way for organizations to pre-emptively identify workers with potentially derailing personality characteristics. Finding that work values mediate the relationship between narcissism and vocational interests reveals that there may be value in exploring this explanatory mechanism with other bright and dark traits.