nasty people in organizations and society
TRANSCRIPT
“Nasty people” and their roles in
organizations, work, and society
Seth M. Spain, Ph.D.School of Management & Center for Leadership Studies,
Binghamton University
Bertrand Russell
1950 Nobel laureate in literature
Founder of analytic philosophy
“grandfather” of modern symbolic logic
Freethinker, pacificist Liberal, anti-Marxist
socialist The “patron Saint of
rationality”
Bertrand Russell
Also, a right bastard Cheated on at least
three of his wives May have had an
affair with his schizophrenic son’s wife
Dubbed the “amoral moralist”
Bertrand Russell
Still, morally courageous Spent 6 months in jail for
speaking out against conscription during WWI
Jailed again at 89 for protesting nuclear weapons
Denied teaching position at City College (NY) for his stance on sexual ethics
Bertrand Russell
Personally kind of a jerk
Socially, the world is probably a better place for having him live in it
All social groups are made up of interacting
individuals Individuals bring with them all of their
personal characteristics and dispositions Beliefs and interests Values and goals Biases Knowledge and skills
The social function of individuals
Personality describes what makes a person
unique “Personality” is basically a summary of a
person’s habitual behavior – especially interpersonal behavior “Bright Side” or Normal-range personality (Big 5) OCEAN (next slide)
Dark Side Not necessarily dysfunctional (for everyday life) “Dark triad”
“Personality” and what it does for us
Openness to experience – intellectual, artistic Conscientiousness – dutiful, achievement-
oriented Extraversion – positive, talkative, outgoing Agreeableness – nice, likeable Neuroticism – worrying, anxious
The Big Five
Openness to experience – intellectual, artistic Conscientiousness – dutiful, achievement-
oriented Extraversion – positive, talkative, outgoing Agreeableness – nice, likeable Neuroticism – worrying, anxious
The Big Five
Openness to experience – intellectual, artistic Conscientiousness – dutiful, achievement-
oriented Extraversion – positive, talkative, outgoing Agreeableness – nice, likeable Neuroticism – worrying, anxious
The Big Five
These two characteristics are generally socially useful – agreeable and conscientious people are likely to support others’ goals and work towards achieving them.
Narcissism – vain, self-focused, egotistical,
entitled Machiavellianism – distrustful, deceitful,
manipulative Psychopathy – unemotional, unempathetic,
impulsive
The Dark Triad
Narcissism – vain, self-focused, egotistical,
entitled Machiavellianism – distrustful, deceitful,
manipulative Psychopathy – unemotional, unempathetic,
impulsive Share a core of callous disregard for others;
strong preference for one’s own goals over those of others
The Dark Triad
We argue that these “traits” are mostly a
useful tool to organize what we know about other people
For instance, when deciding whom to hire for a job, knowing who is more conscientious is useful
Similarly, when meeting a potential friend, knowing how agreeable they are tells you something about how well they’ll “go along” with your plans/ideas
Why do people differ?
Milgram experiment
Nasty people can be socially useful, too.
Milgram experiment People lower in agreeableness have been
found to be more likely to resist the authority of the experimenter
Nasty people can be socially useful
Groupthink
High-level decision-making made by experts…should be few errors
However, group decisions can often suffer from serious, obvious errors
Janis (1972) analyses of decision fiascoes Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when
groups make decisions individual members know to be poor
Why Groupthink?
Pressure for conformity Strong Leader Isolation of the group Group Cohesiveness
Two ways
What can you, as an individual, do to improve your lot in life?
What can you, as a decision-maker in an organization, do to use the proclivities of darker individuals to do?
Learning to behave from “nasty people”
Narcissists may be more motivated to work
hard to become leaders Want to “be the best” at what they do May be domineering and competitive with
subordinates and peers, though Narcissists can be good at selling ideas
May “poison” the well in long-term relationships, though
Narcissism
Manipulators Liars Good at forming alliances Use lots of social influence tactics (“Protean”)
Engage in office politics Willing to use threats, intimidation Willing to beg and compromise “Do what needs to be done”
Machiavellianism
Core of Machiavellian personality Euphemism for “paranoid”
Described as “having a chip on [their] shoulders”
Suspicious People high in skepticism look for—and find!—
ulterior motives in interpersonal interactions Bad for development Bad for team-work
Skepticism
Psychopathy
Not prone to feeling guilt or shame Less anxiety than others Impulsive Willing to harm others to succeed
The Dark Triad
Narcissism Machiavellianism Psychopathy
Powerfully agentic Puts self ahead of
others “Not a team
player”
Bond, James Bond
Thanks!