This seminar paper examines how destructive leadership influences counterproductive work behaviour (CWB) while accounting for employees’ personality traits and gender. Destructive leadership is conceptualised as systematic, repeated leader behaviour that harms followers and undermines organisational goals. It is closely linked to Dark Triad traits – Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy, and, in extended form, the Dark Tetrad – which are associated with self-promotion, manipulativeness, callousness and antisocial tendencies. These traits have been connected to reduced job satisfaction, burnout, turnover intentions and increased workplace deviance.
The paper first outlines the theoretical premises by defining destructive leadership, Dark Triad traits and CWB, differentiating between organisational and interpersonal deviance. It then integrates diversity aspects, focusing on personality and gender. Personality is discussed using the Five Factor Model and the HEXACO framework, highlighting especially honesty–humility, conscientiousness and agreeableness as key predictors of workplace deviance. Psychological Contract Theory is introduced to explain how transactional versus relational expectations shape behavioural responses to leadership and work environments.
Methodologically, the study is based on a systematic literature review using Scopus, combining search terms related to destructive leadership, Dark Triad, CWB, personality and gender. Inclusion criteria focused on peer-reviewed, English-language articles in business, management and psychology since 2018, with an emphasis on higher-ranked journals. The resulting sample covers both quantitative and qualitative studies, different countries and various employee groups.
The findings show that leaders high in Dark Triad traits are strongly associated with increased CWB and negative employee outcomes, with psychopathy showing the most detrimental pattern. At the same time, certain combinations of Machiavellianism and narcissism can be linked to high performance, underlining the ambivalent nature of dark traits. On the employee side, low honesty–humility, low conscientiousness and low agreeableness are robustly related to deviant behaviour. Gender differences are evident: men tend to score higher on Dark Triad traits and are more likely to prefer transactional psychological contracts, whereas women more often show communal traits and relational orientations.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
2. THEORETICAL PREMISES
1. Destructive Leadership & Dark Triad & CWB
2. Diversity aspect: Personality and Gender
3. Psychology Contract Theory
3. METHOD
4. FINDINGS
1. Destructive Leadership and Dark Triad Traits
2. Influence of Employee Personality and CWB
a) Big Five (B5) & HEXACO
b) Psychology Theory Contract
3. Gender Differences
a. Dark Triad Traits and Gender Differences
5. DISCUSSION
a. Summary of Key Findings
b. Implications for Theory and Managerial Practice
c. Limitations
d. Avenues for Future Research
e. Conclusion
REFERENCES
Objectives and Topics
This seminar paper investigates the impact of Destructive Leadership (DL) and Dark Triad (D3) personality traits on counterproductive work behaviour (CWB), while specifically examining how these dynamics are moderated by the gender and personality traits of employees. The research aims to clarify how leadership styles interact with individual differences to affect organizational outcomes.
- Analysis of the relationship between Destructive Leadership and counterproductive work behaviour.
- Examination of Dark Triad traits in management and their varied impacts on employees.
- Evaluation of personality models (Big Five, HEXACO) in the context of workplace deviance.
- Investigation of gender differences in leadership perception and psychological contract formation.
- Development of HR strategies to mitigate the negative effects of leadership styles.
Excerpt from the Book
2. Diversity aspect: Personality and Gender
Previous studies presented gender differences in dark traits, with men exhibiting higher levels compared to women (Gómez-Leal et al., 2024). Thus, it is crucial to consider the personality and gender (man and woman) in HRM strategies. Larsen and Buss (2005) describe personality as a set of enduring psychological traits and mechanisms that influence individual interactions and adaptations.
To analyze, personalities can be simplified with the Five Factor Model (FFM), encompassing openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism or its opposite—emotional stability (Goldberg, R. R., 1990; Pletzer et al., 2019). Gender differences (man, woman) in FFM reveal men score higher in emotional stability, while women score higher in agreeableness and extraversion. Individuals with high narcissism scores showed higher scores in openness to experience, extraversion, and emotional stability (see Gómez-Leal et al., 2024).
The FFM model has been enhanced into the HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised (HEXACO-PI-R; Lee & Ashton, 2004) to better capture personality differences related to workplace phenomena (Szabó et al., 2021). This construct measures six dimensions:: honestyhumility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience (Pletzer et al., 2019) on a 5-point scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree (Szabó et al., 2021).
Summary of Chapters
1. INTRODUCTION: The chapter establishes the importance of effective leadership in dynamic markets and introduces the problem statement regarding how Destructive Leadership and Dark Triad traits negatively influence employee productivity and behaviour.
2. THEORETICAL PREMISES: This section defines key concepts including Destructive Leadership, the Dark Triad, and the role of personality models like the Big Five and HEXACO in understanding workplace deviance.
3. METHOD: This chapter details the systematic literature review process, covering the search strategy on Scopus, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and the selection of peer-reviewed articles.
4. FINDINGS: The section presents research results on how specific Dark Triad traits influence employee outcomes and highlights the moderation effects of gender and personality on counterproductive work behaviour.
5. DISCUSSION: The final chapter synthesizes the main findings, discusses implications for HR management, acknowledges study limitations, and proposes directions for future research.
Keywords
Destructive Leadership, Dark Triad, Counterproductive Work Behaviour, Personality Traits, Gender Differences, Human Resource Management, Big Five, HEXACO, Psychological Contract, Organizational Deviance, Employee Motivation, Workplace Performance, Leadership Selection.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this paper?
The paper examines how Destructive Leadership and the associated Dark Triad personality traits (Machiavellianism, Narcissism, Psychopathy) influence employee counterproductive work behaviour.
What are the central thematic fields?
The work centers on leadership styles, personality psychology, organizational behaviour, and gender-related differences in the workplace.
What is the primary research goal?
The goal is to identify and understand the complex interaction between leadership styles and employee diversity factors to enhance organizational motivation and performance.
Which research methodology is applied?
The author utilized a systematic literature review, searching reputable databases like Scopus for peer-reviewed journal articles based on specific keyword combinations.
What subjects are covered in the main body?
The main body covers theoretical definitions, the impact of personality models, the influence of the psychological contract, and an in-depth findings section supported by literature.
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key terms include Destructive Leadership, Dark Triad, CWB, Personality Traits, Gender Differences, and Organizational Deviance.
How does the Dark Triad correlate with employee performance?
Findings suggest a complex relationship; while high levels of psychopathy are linked to lower performance and higher deviance, certain combinations of Machiavellianism and Narcissism can occasionally lead to high performance.
What role does gender play in organizational contracts?
The research indicates that men are more prone to transactional, short-term psychological contracts, whereas women are more aligned with communal, long-term social values.
How can organizations mitigate destructive leadership?
The paper suggests implementing screening mechanisms during leadership selection and providing targeted training that fosters traits like honesty-humility to improve overall organizational health.
- Quote paper
- Anonymous (Author), 2024, Destructive Leadership and Counterproductive Work Behaviour, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1675540
