National University of Modern Languages Islamabad

Faculty of Management Sciences

ASSIGNMENT

Submitted to: Dr. Hafsah Zahoor

Submitted by: Abdul Wahab
Numl-S20-11612
M.Com (A, Morning)
 Summary
Introduction
Emil Kraepelin's textbook detailing the nature of disturbed personalities may be t
he birthplace of the study of dark personality.Today, we readily recognize these ty
pes using the modern labels of psychopathic, borderline personality, Machiavellia
nism, and paranoia.That said, the study of dark personality and its impact in the w
orkplace is only just now entering into the mainstream of organizational research.

The Special Issue

When we set out to put together this special issue, we specifically set out w
ith the ambition to expand the discussion surrounding dark traits beyond t
he Dark Triad and DSM-IV Axis 2
based models that have dominated the research in this area.
A number of papers in the special issue expand discussion of dark personal
ity to include feelings of entitlement, self-enhancement, and perfectionism.
Our second goal was to consolidate and enhance the foundations of dark p
ersonality in the workplace.
Interestingly, we had four papers that provided either primary or metaanal
ytic evidence of the importance of dark characteristics at both the level of si
ngle traits or across a broad spectrum of dark characteristics.

Future Directions
Defining Dark Personality
As noted above, research on the topic of dark personality in the context of t
he workplace is still relatively new and somewhat still ill-defined.
One of the ongoing issues in the study of dark personality is what makes it
different from other personality characteristics.In particular, characteristics
that reflect a motivation to elevate the self and harm others are considered
particularly dark.
A second reason for rejecting the Big Five as a foundation for understandin
g dark traits is that it represents an incomplete taxonomy of traits.
Because evaluative terms were eliminated in the early stages of the psychol
exical research that led to the Big Five, many defining characteristics of dar
k personality traits are not captured within the Big Five model.Reanalysis o
f some of the foundational work by Saucier and Goldberg showed that a nu
mber of lexical clusters were "Missing", including clusters describing dark
personality traits such as manipulativenesspresence or absence of ethical/
moral behavior, and conceited egotism.
Measurement of Dark Personality

For these reasons and more, there have been calls for more precise measure
ment of dark personality traits.
A final issue with measurement concerns the overreliance on self-
report measures for assessing dark personality.
One further technique for assessing dark characteristics concerns content c
oding written statements and interviews and using behavioral markers to i
ndicate the presence of dark characteristics.
A related technique using personal appearance as an indicator of dark pers
onality has shown promise as well.
Establishing a More Expansive Model of Dark Traits
As mentioned above and in other articles in the special issue, there is more
to dark personality than just the Dark Triad. That said, use of the Dark Tria
d as a framework continues to predominate in the organizational sciences.
Guenole has noted that the introduction of a new model of dark traits base
d on the DSM-
5 will almost certainly start to influence research and practice.
Beyond new models of dark personality, we are seeing emergent literatures
concerning specific traits, such as paranoia, that have not received much at
tention in prior organizational research.
Going outside the framework of dark personality traits derived from clinic
al constructs, we also believe that psychodynamic frameworks may provid
e particularly rich theoretical models for understanding dark personality in
the workplace.
Providing a Theoretical Framework

We should expect dark traits to exhibit positive relationships with outcome

s at a particular trait level and to be associated with lower functioning or d
ysfunction at particularly high and low levels.
Unusual work contexts such as the military may provide situations where
particular dark traits are positively associated with performance outcomes.
Certain dark traits are more likely to be viewed as destructive in particular
cultural settings depending on prevailing cultural norms.one final rule of
thumb is that the effect of dark personality traits are most likely to be seen
when
individuals have the highest levels of discretion or autonomy in their work
place.
More specific theoretical models developed to explain the expected relation
ship between particular dark personality traits in specific situations may no
t generalize to other dark characteristics.

Levels of Analysis
Although dark personality research is nearly always studied at the individ
ual level of analysis, we know that individuals do not operate in a vacuum.
In particular, if we are to understand dark personality in the workplace, the
n we need to understand how the effects of various traits play out at differe
nt levels of analysis.
In spite of a fairly substantial literature surrounding the personality make-
up of groups, there is almost no information on how different mean levels
and distributions of dark personality characteristics among team members
might impact team performance.
In terms of the strategic or firm level, there has been precious little research
documenting the role of personality characteristics of corporate leaders an
d how it influences firm performance and even less on dark personality cha
racteristics.
Although caution should always be used when comparing constructs acros
s levels, we believe that research investigating dark personality at the dyad
ic, group, and firm levels would greatly enhance our understanding of thes
e constructs and reinforce the importance of dark personality in organizatio
nal life.

Conclusion
In the present special issue, we set out to answer some important questions
about dark personality in the workplace. We believe that the papers
included in this special issue will provide a solid theoretical and empirical
foundation for further research and practice. As we noted at the beginning
of this commentary, even though this topic is not new, there is still a great
deal to discover.