Study: Bad People Make for Good Job Interviews

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Study: Bad People Make for Good Job Interviews

Troy Senik, Ed. · April 13, 2012 at 7:15pm

The University of Nebraska's Daily Nebraskan reports on a study co-authored by one of the university's management professors:

Three personality traits compose a dark triad in the field of psychology: narcissism, Machiavellianism — being overly manipulative — and psychopathy. Narcissism refers to being overly egotistical. And being narcissistic helps people land jobs.
A new study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology focuses on the effects of narcissism in the setting of the job interview. According to the study, people who have narcissistic qualities tend to outperform their more modest counterparts.
...
[Professor Peter] Harms defined a narcissist as someone who has “noxious self-esteem” and feels “entitled or unique.” He emphasized that narcissists not only feel overly self-confident, they also put others down. This can be problematic, though, as self-confidence is a trait employers look for in potential employees.
“What (narcissists) do on a day-to-day basis is what you are supposed to do in this context,” Harms said.

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