First Name:
Anna
Last Name:
Martin
Major Department:
Psychology
Thesis Director:
Shawn Bergman
Date of Thesis:
May 2012
As the use of emergent leadership in the workplace is increasing (Coutu, 2009), narcissism levels among individuals entering the workforce are also on the rise (Twenge et al., 2008). Characterized by an inflated sense of self-worth, a desire for others to recognize one’s accomplishments, and an indifference towards others’ needs and emotions (APA, 2000), narcissism is infiltrating American society and causing havoc for businesses. Because the increase both in the demand for informal leadership and in levels of narcissism will inevitably lead to an overlap of these two conflicting constructs, we must ask ourselves what consequences could come of such an incompatible collision. This study looked to begin examining that relationship and sought to determine whether narcissism was related to self- and other-ratings of leadership and how narcissism and overestimating one’s leadership abilities impact team functioning. Participants were 121 undergraduate management students who were assigned to team of 4-5 individuals to work on a semester-long team project. Data were collected during the beginning, middle, and end of the team project. Results indicated that narcissism was significantly correlated with self-ratings of leadership at three times (r=.41, .28, and .32, respectively), but only significantly correlated with other-ratings at time three (r=.30). Unexpectedly, the narcissism and overestimating one’s leadership abilities were not found to be related to team-level outcomes.