How Businesses Unintentionally Attract Narcissistic Employees, Research Finds

A recent study published in Management Science suggests that companies might inadvertently be attracting narcissistic employees through the language used in their job postings. By employing terms like “results-oriented,” “ambitious,” and “persuasive,” companies may be inadvertently enticing individuals who are more likely to prioritize self-interest and engage in unethical behavior to achieve their goals.

“That’s what you would expect a narcissist to do – be willing to bend the rules, at least for themselves,” said Jonathan Gay, assistant professor of accountancy instruction, who led the research effort. “And it starts with your job posting. Who are you attracting with your job postings?”

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Narcissists have been shown to be poor leaders. For accounting firms and many other businesses, narcissistic employees are more likely to engage in fraud and earnings management, which is when employees bend rules to make businesses seem to perform better than they actually do.

Earnings management is controversial in the field because, despite often being legal, it could be considered a dishonest representation of a company’s performance or worth.

“Narcissism, for whatever reason, has proven to be the dominant personality trait that is associated with earnings management, fraud and manipulation,” said Scott Jackson, professor of accounting at the University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business.

“A narcissist would be more likely to get entangled in serious accounting infractions than someone who doesn’t have that personality trait.”

To further investigate this link, researchers conducted a study involving 248 participants. These individuals were asked to select job postings that appealed to them the most. Subsequently, they completed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory-16, a well-established tool for assessing narcissistic tendencies. By analyzing the participants’ choices and their narcissism scores, the researchers identified a correlation between certain keywords in job postings and higher levels of narcissistic traits.

It’s important to note that while the participants may not exhibit clinical levels of narcissism, the test results indicate elevated narcissistic tendencies.

Ultimately, whether a company wants to attract narcissists depends on its needs, Gay said. However, recruiters and employers should be aware that the words they use matter.

“So, if you want somebody who is going to be ambitious and self-reliant and maybe a little narcissistic, then include this language,” he said. “But if you want somebody that’s going to report the most accurate representation of your financial statements, not the most favorable representation, then you might want to be cautious about using some of these rule-bender terms in your job listings.”