It seems like narcissism is everywhere these days: politics, film and television, sports, social media. You might even see signs of it at work, where it can be particularly damaging. Is it possible to maintain a workplace free of destructive and manipulative egoists?
More and more organizations have turned to organizational psychology experts at San Francisco State University for help doing just that. In response, University researchers developed a job interview tool to assess narcissistic grandiosity among potential job candidates. San Francisco State psychology professors Kevin Eschleman and Chris Wright and four student researchers led the project, published in the journal Personality Assessment Magazine.
“We focused on narcissism because it’s one of the most talked about characteristics of people. It really represents a lot of things that can go wrong in terms of a team,” Eschleman said. “But it is a feature that is very attractive in the short term. [Narcissists] They often have tendencies to be very goal-oriented and are often very successful. “There is an appeal to someone who has a high level of narcissism.”
The tool developed by SF State researchers, the Narcissism Interview Scale for Employment (NISE), is a set of behavioral and situational questions that can be incorporated into a job interview. One question asks respondents to describe their approach to leading a team. Another asks how candidates would proceed if they don’t agree with a plan the rest of their team likes, and the project requires unanimous consent to move forward. Interviewers are trained to rate candidates’ responses, providing a more scientific and consistent way to assess a candidate’s propensity for narcissistic grandiosity.
The project began four years ago when Eschleman noticed an increase in organizations asking about effective teams, candidate selection and how to avoid the “bad apples.” It’s easy for organizations to be attracted to how a candidate’s skills appear on paper, but failing to properly consider personality could derail team-oriented environments, Eschleman notes. Employees with narcissistic grandiosity tend to have an inflated view of themselves and make short-term, self-focused decisions rather than considering long-term organizational needs. They may also abuse your sense of power and control and try to protect you, he adds.
“This is not a categorical diagnosis,” Eschleman clarified, noting that everyone probably falls somewhere on the narcissism continuum. “What we’re looking at is the consistency of people over time. It’s how they see themselves or how others see them consistently over time. Do they engage in these actions consistently?”
The authors acknowledge that this assessment is not a perfect science. There are many other factors to building a successful team and healthy work environment. But they hope their tool will increase the odds of success.
While the researchers have been studying these topics for years, they wanted to make sure their tool was easy to use and could adapt to different work environments. That is why they focused on job interviews, something accepted and considered appropriate by both organizations and applicants in the hiring process.
Sharon Pidakala (MS, ’22), one of the authors of the study, is now a People and Development Manager at Lawyers On Demand in Singapore. His work involves talent acquisition, culture, development, organizational policies and employee engagement.
“I’m grateful to be able to put my research to daily use. It’s very important to make sure these questions aren’t directly direct because you don’t want to sound like you’re asking someone, ‘Are you a narcissist?’ ” explained Pidakala, whose SFSU thesis focused on the development of the NISE tool. “These questions are posed in a way that makes them appear favorable to the candidate.”
Pidakala came to SF State specifically to receive this type of training. With college experience in psychology, she sought specialized training in organizational psychology to further refine and expand her experience in the field.
“Attending SF State and studying organizational psychology has been incredibly valuable, providing me with versatile skills that can be applied globally,” he said.