 Dark personality traits and workplace recommendations: Does job dissatisfaction trigger the trait-specific dominant Effect?Salman Yousaf, Soonchul Hyun and Jong Min Kim Journal of Business Research, 2025, vol. 200, issue C Abstract: This study explores the relationship between Dark Triad (DT) traits—psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism—and employees’ likelihood to recommend their workplace to a friend (RTF) and understand whether job dissatisfaction triggers the trait-dominant effect for DT traits. The study analyzed 2,473,968 employee reviews from Glassdoor.com using the Language Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program. We found a significant negative relationship between DT traits and RTF. The situational cue of job dissatisfaction triggered trait-specific responses for psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism in distinct ways. This research contributes to the scholarship of Trait Activation Theory (TAT) by enriching our understanding of RTF in the context of differential triggering effects of workplace dissatisfaction on DT traits. The findings provide practical insights for managers to moderate the situational cues triggering the activation of these traits. Keywords: Job dissatisfaction; Recommend to a friend; Narcissism; Psychopathy; Machiavellianism; Dark personality traits (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:200:y:2025:i:c:s0148296325004321 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115609 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Business Research is currently edited by A. G. Woodside More articles in Journal of Business Research from Elsevier |
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