When grandiose meets vulnerable: narcissism and well-being in the organizational context

ABSTRACT

Objective

In this article, we explore the implications of vulnerable narcissism in an organizational context, particularly with regard to work-related well-being and leader–follower interactions. We tested whether employees’ vulnerable narcissism affects their work engagement and emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, we examined whether leaders’ grandiose narcissism impacts such as working relationships. We used job demands-resources theory in order to derive our hypotheses at the intra- and inter-individual level. Method: Multi-level analyses in a sample of 235 followers in 71 teams confirmed some of our hypotheses. Results: We demonstrate that vulnerable narcissism is positively related to followers’ emotional exhaustion and negatively related to work engagement. Moreover, leaders’ grandiose narcissism exacerbates the negative relationship between followers’ vulnerable narcissism and their work engagement. Conclusions: Our results indicate that the various facets of narcissism play an important role in an organizational context and suggest that vulnerable narcissism in particular, which has been largely neglected in previous research, is an important determinant of work-related well-being. Further, we form a holistic understanding of the leadership process by emphasizing the interaction between leaders’ and followers’ personalities, adding to the leadership literature by integrating leader and follower characteristics.     

How Does the Comforting Process Work? An Empirical Test of an Appraisal‐Based Model of Comforting

Burleson and Goldsmith’s (1998) comforting model suggests an appraisal‐based mechanism through which comforting messages can bring about a positive change in emotional states. This study is a first empirical test of three causal linkages implied by the appraisal‐based comforting model. Participants (N = 258) talked about an upsetting event with a confederate trained to display low, moderate, or high levels of person centeredness and nonverbal immediacy. After the conversation, participants completed several scales. Latent composite structural equation modeling was used to examine the model, which showed that person‐centered and immediate emotional support exerted a direct effect on emotional improvement. Above and beyond this direct effect, person‐centered comfort also encouraged people to verbalize their thoughts and emotions. These verbalizations facilitated cognitive appraisals, which in turn exerted a strong direct effect on emotional improvement. Mediation analyses further suggested that verbalizations of positive emotion words in conjunction with reappraisals partially mediated the influence of person‐centered comfort on emotional improvement.