Narcissists more likely to support hierarchical organisations

New York: People who have narcissistic tendencies are more likely to support hierarchical businesses and organisations, according to a research.

For the study, around 400 people answered questions through online surveys in five separate studies.

According to the study, people with narcissistic traits, who were either at the top of the hierarchy or expected they could rise to the top, tended to support hierarchical businesses and organisations.

Narcissistic people favour hierarchies because of a perceived potential to rise to the top, rather than other reasons, such as promotion on the basis of performance.

“Our research underscores the need for leaders to thoughtfully consider the effects that company structure can have – not only on employees’ performance and satisfaction, but also on the very types of people those employees will be,” said Emily M. Zitek, Assistant Professor at Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, US in a statement.

The research also found evidence that narcissistic people tended to overestimate their performance due to which they overestimate their ability to rise to the top in hierarchical groups when performance is the basis for promotion.