There are words that, in recent years, we have learned to use too lightly. “Narcissist” is one of them. We pronounce it when talking about romantic relationships, toxic friendships, ex-partners incapable of taking responsibility. Yet narcissism at work is an equally delicate issue, often underestimated, which can transform an office into an emotional minefield.
Companies are looking for security, leadership, determination. They are looking for people who know how to lead a team, make decisions, take risks. The problem is that some of these qualities, when fueled by a grandiose and distorted ego, become the precursor to destructive dynamics.
We have all met, at least once, that brilliant person at an interview, capable of enchanting anyone with a confident smile and an impeccable CV, only to reveal himself, within a few months, as an aggressive, centralizing colleague, incapable of accepting criticism. This is where work psychology tries to take a step forward.
The allure of the ego: why companies keep falling for it
According to Kevin Eschleman, professor of organizational psychology at San Francisco State University, narcissism represents one of the most discussed traits when analyzing team dynamics.
The point is that narcissistic grandiosity has a very strong short-term attraction. Those with high levels of narcissism appear goal-oriented, ambitious, even successful. Companies, understandably, tend to associate security with competence, without realizing that that security may rest on an inflated and unrealistic self-perception.
Over time, however, cracks emerge. Appropriation of other people’s merits, devaluation of colleagues, verbal aggression, inability to manage dissent. The corporate climate deteriorates slowly, and often when we notice it is too late.
Traditional personality tests don’t solve the problem. Those with marked narcissistic traits tend to describe themselves in an extremely positive way, with a distorted but coherent vision of their self-image. Furthermore, many candidates experience psychological questionnaires as an annoying obstacle, with the risk of compromising the entire selection process.
So how do you intercept these signals before hiring?
The NISE: the conversation that observes, without labels
To answer this question, the team led by Eschleman developed an innovative tool called the Narcissism Interview Scale for Employment, abbreviated as NISE. The principle is as simple as it is intelligent: integrate the assessment of narcissistic traits directly into the job interview, without explicitly stating it.
No questions like “Do you consider yourself arrogant?” or “Do you think you are superior to others?”. The questions seem normal, in line with any well-structured behavioral interview. The co-author of the research, Sharon Pidakala, explains that the wording is deliberately favorable to the candidate, so as to avoid resistance or defensive attitudes. The objective is to observe how the person talks about himself when he talks about power, leadership, conflict.
A concrete example: the candidate must imagine leading a team in which a collaborator questions his decision, which later turns out to be correct. How does he react? A growth-oriented response will talk about discussion, shared learning, open communication. A response filled with grandiosity will tend to emphasize irritation with dissent or the need to reassert authority.
Another proposed situation involves teamwork with unanimous consensus. If the group chooses a different direction than the one desired by the candidate, what strategies does it adopt? Here flexibility, listening skills and ego management emerge.
They are then asked whether they consider themselves “born” leaders or leaders formed by experience, accompanying the answer with a concrete example. The way in which merits and responsibilities are distributed tells much more than a score on a questionnaire. During the development phase, the researchers also included requests to narrate episodes in which authority was exercised or to explain why a group was successful, so as to understand whether the person tends to centralize recognition or share it.
The results of the study
To test the effectiveness of NISE, researchers analyzed thousands of simulated video interviews with college students. Trained raters assigned scores on a scale ranging from very low narcissism to very high narcissism, based on contextual clues present in the responses.
The results were then compared with self-completed personality questionnaires and, particularly interestingly, with the ratings provided by the participants’ partners. The data showed a significant correlation between high scores on the NISE and real-life aggressive behaviors, such as verbal aggression, relational aggression, and attitudes of interpersonal deviance, such as publicly humiliating a colleague.
In other words, how a person talks about their leadership in an interview can predict how they will treat others in the workplace. The research was published in the Journal of Personality Assessment and opens up an interesting scenario, especially in an era in which remote interviews and digital selections are becoming the norm.
An organizational tool, not a clinical diagnosis
It is important to clarify this: the NISE does not provide a psychiatric diagnosis and does not identify a narcissistic personality disorder, which requires evaluation by a clinical psychologist. The tool measures social traits relevant to daily functioning in the company, observing consistencies in the way the person interprets himself and power relations.
A surprising fact concerns the perception of candidates. Many participants said they felt more comfortable with these questions than traditional ones, which are often perceived as cold or generic. Perhaps because, deep down, we all want to portray ourselves as competent leaders and collaborative people. And it is precisely in that story that, at times, the shadow of the ego can be glimpsed.
In a historical moment in which we are increasingly talking about organizational well-being, about sustainable work environments also from a psychological point of view, tools such as the NISE could represent an important piece. Because sustainability does not only concern the environment, but also relationships, respect and the quality of working life.
And preventing toxic dynamics before they take root means taking care of people, even before the results.
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