Determining the relationship between employee psychopathy and strain: Does the type of psychopathy matter?

Abstract

The present study adds to the emerging empirical research on psychopathy in the workplace by examining its potential influence on employees’ interpersonal relationships at work, their experience of work-related strain, and their turnover intentions. A total of 211 participants employed in various occupations in the United States were examined to investigate the potential effects of 2 types of psychopathy traits (i.e., primary and secondary) on workplace outcomes. A model tested with structural equation modeling indicated that higher levels of secondary psychopathy traits may lead to reduced supervisor support, increased emotional exhaustion, and greater turnover intentions. Further, the combined effects of supervisor support and exhaustion fully mediated the relationship between secondary psychopathy and turnover intentions. The findings provide evidence for psychopathy’s relevance to organizational research and theory for both workplace stress and employee selection.

The Relationship Between the Dark Triad Personality Traits, Motivation at Work, and Burnout Among HR Recruitment Workers

“…Their role has primarily been explored in the context of organizational behavior, including effectiveness (Furnham et al., 2012), counterproductive work behavior (O’Boyle et al., 2012; Cohen, 2016), unethical behaviors (Amernic and Craig, 2010), organizational citizenship behavior (Becker and Dan O’Hair, 2007), job crafting (Roczniewska and Bakker, 2016), and skillful leadership and management (Paunonen et al., 2006; Ames, 2009), albeit not in the context of occupational health. For example, beyond a few studies testing direct relationships between job burnout and single dark traits, e.g., narcissism (Schwarzkopf et al., 2016) or psychopathy (Johnson et al., 2015), the relationship between dark traits and job burnout has not been broadly investigated. The present research addresses this literature gap.…”

“…The direct link between some dark traits and job burnout has been examined in a few previous studies (Johnson et al., 2015; Schwarzkopf et al., 2016). One found that a high level of narcissism predicts the two components of job burnout: emotional exhaustion and cynicism (Schwarzkopf et al., 2016).…”

“…Some authors have not found a significant connection between psychopathy and job stress (Beutler et al., 1988; Bartol et al., 1992; Richardson and Boag, 2016). However, one piece of novel research supports the notion that psychopathy is associated with high rates of job stress and emotional exhaustion, and negative affective experiences (Noser et al., 2014; Johnson et al., 2015). Given that Machiavellianism is related to high job stress (Heisler and Gemmill, 1977; Richardson and Boag, 2016) and low job satisfaction (Jonason et al., 2015), and negatively associated with task-oriented coping strategies, a positive link between Machiavellianism and job burnout may be expected.…”

The role of Dark Triad on the link between Emotional Labor and Core Burnout

“…Impulsivity, anxiety or anger, specific to neuroticism, were positively correlated with psychopathy (Ross, Lutz, & Bailley, 2004), being closely related to greater reactivity to stress and negative reactions to stressors in general too (Hicks et al, 2004). As well, the behavioral tendencies manifested by persons with high levels of psychopathy may contribute to increasing burnout (Johnson, Beehr, & O'Brien, 2015).…”

“…Current research provides compelling evidence for the association among the three components of the Dark Triad and burnout. High levels of narcissistic traits were positively associated with high levels of all dimensions of burnout (Schwarzkopf et al, 2016), and Machiavellianism and psychopathy were positively associated with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization (Johnson, Beehr, & O'Brien, 2015;Prusik & Szulawski, 2019). So far, Dark Triad facets have been analyzed only as antecedents of burnout, not as moderators (Paulhus & Williams, 2002).…”