The leader ship is sinking: a temporal investigation of narcissistic leadership.
Open accessAbstract
Individuals higher in narcissism have leader emergent tendencies. The characteristics of their personality suggest, however, that their leadership qualities will decrease over time as a function of group acquaintance. We present data from two studies that provide the first empirical support for this theoretical position within a transformational leadership framework. In Study 1 (N = 112), we tested narcissistic leadership qualities in groups of unacquainted individuals over a 12-week period. In Study 2 (N = 152), we adopted the same protocol with groups of acquainted individuals. In Study 1, narcissism was positively associated with peer-rated leadership during initial group formation but not later. In Study 2, narcissism was not significantly associated with peer-rated leadership during initial group formation and was negatively associated with peer-rated leadership later. In Study 1, transformational leadership mediated the relationship between narcissism and leadership initially but not later on. In Study 2, transformational leadership failed to mediate the relationship between narcissism and leadership throughout the study. Despite enjoying a honeymoon period of leadership, the appeal and attractiveness of the narcissistic leader rapidly wane. This decline is explained in part by their changing transformational leadership qualities.
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Perceptions of narcissistic individuals in peer groups vary according to the length of acquaintance, with short-term acquaintances evaluating narcissistic peers more positively and longer acquaintance diminishing these positive perceptions.
“prior research shows that perceptions of narcissistic individuals in peer groups vary according to the length of acquaintance because the passage of time exposes narcissists’ negative characteristics. Thus, short-term acquaintances tend to evaluate narcissistic peers more positively, whereas over time with longer acquaintance these positive perceptions diminish (Carlson et al., 2011; Leckelt et al”
From Narcissistic Leaders and Their Victims: Followers Low on Self-Esteem and Low on Core Self-Evaluations Suffer Most (2018) · cites this paper as Ong et al., 2016
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“Thus, shortterm acquaintances tend to evaluate narcissistic peers more positively, whereas over time with longer acquaintance these positive perceptions diminish (Carlson et al., 2011; Leckelt et al., 2015; Ong et al., 2016).”
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- Authors
- Ong, C. W., Roberts, R., Arthur, C. A., Woodman, T., & Akehurst, S.
- Affiliations
- Bangor University (GB)
- University of Stirling (GB)
- University of Derby (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Ong, Chin Wei
- Venue
- Journal of Personality
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2015-01-21
- Volume
- 84
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 237-247
- ISSN
- 0022-3506 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-6494
- OpenAlex
- W1502479738
- Cited by
- 123
- References
- 72
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 6
- FWCI
- 7.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Personality (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Bangor University Research Portal (Bangor University) (acceptedVersion)
- University of Derby Online Research Archive. (University of Derby) (submittedVersion)
- Stirling Online Research Repository (University of Stirling) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
- Bangor University Research Portal (Bangor University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › History, Medicine, and Leadership
- Keywords
- narcissism, narcissistic leadership, transformational leadership, leadership emergence, honeymoon effect
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Female, Humans, Leadership, Male, Narcissism, Personality, Personality Assessment, Young Adult
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