Some interesting new research was recently published by experts Paola Rovellia and Camilla Curnis at The Leadership Quarterly. Take a look at this excerpt from a PsyPost article written about the research by Beth Ellwood:

The literature has identified key personality traits that do predict a greater chance of becoming a leader — extraversion, over-confidence, self-esteem, dominance, and authoritarianism. As Rovelli and Curnis point out, all five of these traits are characteristic of people who are highly narcissistic.

The researchers set out to examine the career trajectories of current leaders and to compare each leader’s career history to their level of narcissism. In this way, Rovelli and Curnis were able to look backward and see whether CEOs with higher narcissism had made their way more quickly into leadership positions.

Also, here is the research’s abstract:

It is widely acknowledged that narcissism is a peculiar characteristic of leaders, such as CEOs. However, the role of narcissism in CEO emergence and appointment has not been studied yet. We overcome this gap by studying whether having a highly narcissistic personality allows individuals to become CEOs sooner. We posit that these individuals have quicker career development, climbing the hierarchical chain faster. We also hypothesize that this relation may be moderated by the firm’s characteristics, comparing family and nonfamily firms.

Family firms are the most widespread organizational form of firms around the world, and their peculiarities might affect the appointment of narcissistic CEOs. Estimates on a sample of 172 individuals partially confirm the hypotheses. Highly narcissistic individuals become CEOs quicker, regardless of whether the firm is a family business or not. Narcissistic individuals thus benefit from their personality when aiming at becoming CEOs faster in their career advancement.

Also see our section on World Democracy or our articles on Worldwide Corruption.