AUTHOR=Haar Jarrod , de Jong Kirsty 

TITLE=Is the dark triad always detrimental to firm performance? Testing different performance outcomes and the moderating effects of competitive rivalry

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1061698

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1061698

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=There is growing evidence that CEO’s who have the ‘dark triad’ of personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) detrimentally influence firm performance. However, there is still much we do not know. The present study suggests that CEO dark triad might directly influence typical performance indicators in different ways: positively to an external performance indicator (breakthrough sales), but negatively to an internal performance indicator (organizational performance). We argue the CEO dark triad can be interpreted differently by those external to the firm versus internally, where managers are much closer to the CEO’s dark-personality. Our model includes managerial capital as a mediator and competitive rivalry as a moderator, and ultimately tests a moderated mediation model. Using data from 840 New Zealand firms, we find the dark triad links to outcomes as expected. While the CEO dark triad is negatively related to managerial capital, managerial capital does positively predict both performance indicators, and partially mediates the CEO dark triad effect. Overall, moderating effects highlight that the CEO dark triad is less detrimental in fiercely competitive business environments, acting as a consistent boundary condition across models. As competitive rivalry increases, the indirect effect of CEO dark triad on performance reduces. We discuss the implications for understanding the role that the CEO dark triad can play in firms.