Does Evil Prevail? The “Bright” and “Dark” Sides of Personality as Predictors of Adaptive Performance

Pedro J. Ramos-Villagrasa, Elena Fernández-del-Río and Juan Ramón Barrada
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Pedro J. Ramos-Villagrasa: Faculty of Social Sciences and Labour, University of Zaragoza, Calle Violante de Hungría, 23, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Elena Fernández-del-Río: Faculty of Social Sciences and Labour, University of Zaragoza, Calle Violante de Hungría, 23, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Juan Ramón Barrada: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Calle Ciudad Escolar, 44003 Teruel, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-13

Abstract: The turbulent context in which organizations operate today makes them search for adaptable workers. Previous studies have shown the predictive value of the “Big Five” personality traits on adaptive performance, but some authors suggest extending personality domain with the “dark” traits of personality, that is, Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy (i.e., the “Dark Triad”), and sadism (which, along with the aforementioned traits, composes the “Dark Tetrad”). The present research investigates the incremental validity of the dark traits in the prediction of adaptive performance over the Big Five. The study follows a cross-sectional design with a convenience sample of 613 participants (46% women; mean age 38.78 years, SD = 14.05; mean job experience = 16.93 years, SD = 13.39) from different organizations who fill in a questionnaire with the variables. Our results showed that the Dark Triad improved the predictive model with respect to the Big Five ( R 2 = 0.202, Δ R 2 = 0.030, p < 0.001). The statistically significant predictors were neuroticism (β = −0.127, p = 0.010), openness to experience (β = 0.155, p < 0.001), conscientiousness (β = 0.164, p = 0.001), narcissism (β = 0.134 p < 0.002), and psychopathy (β = −0.137, p = 0.005). The incorporation of sadism did not improve the Dark Triad model ( R 2 = 0.202, Δ R 2 = −0.001, p = 0.541).

Keywords: job performance; adaptive performance; Big Five; dark personality traits; dark tetrad; narcissism; Machiavellianism; psychopathy; sadism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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