The influence of narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathic personality traits on leader's preferences in followers

This paper assesses the implications of Narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathic personality traits on leaders' preferences in followers. The research was conducted from the perspective of leaders who possess any of these dark personalities and their preferences in followers. This research gives followers a sense of what to expect if confronted with a situation in which a system is run a by a leader who possesses any of these three dark personality traits. The results indicated that Narcissistic leaders with a dominant sub characteristic of selfishness prefer followers who are achievers, proficient and ambitious. Narcissists who like authority prefer dependable, team players and proficient followers. Narcissists who like to show off prefer followers who are very good team players and are negatively correlated to followers who possess high ethics and morals. Demanding Narcissists prefer followers who don't need much supervision. Machiavellians who only think of their personal gain do not prefer followers who are independent and require little supervision. Machiavellian leaders whose dominating sub characteristic is to attain power are positively correlated to hard working and ambitious followers. Machiavellian leaders do not prefer followers who like to give their own ideas to the managers. Machiavellian leaders who like to manipulate their employees do not prefer followers who are self-driven and confident. Psychopathic leaders who have dominant selfish characteristics are negatively correlated to majority of the followers with ideal characteristics. Finally, indecisive psychopaths prefer followers who are independent. --Leaf ii.