Vocational behavior from the dark side

Political skill camouflages Machiavellianism: Career role performance and organizational misbehavior at short and long tenure

“…Misbehavior at Short and Long Tenure Interest in research on vocational behavior from the dark side has been increasing (for a review, see Hirschfeld & Van Scotter, 2019). Such research addresses not only dark traits but also values, motivations, self-concepts, and interests, which are not inherently dark (e.g., a preference for power) but pose risks to the people who endorse them as well as risks to others (e.g., career derailment; Hogan, Hogan, & Kaiser, 2011).…”

“…Hogan and Shelton (1998) highlighted selfishness, treachery, and deceit in these dark trait dispositions and claimed that they can coexist with good social skill. Hirschfeld and Van Scotter (2019) identified vocational research on six dark traits: social dominance orientation, psychological entitlement, dispositional greed, and the dark triad traits. The dark triad traits (i.e., psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism; Paulhus & Williams, 2002) tend to manifest in a socially malevolent character with behavioral tendencies that lean toward self-promotion, emotional coldness, duplicity, and aggressiveness.…”

“…Apart from these prominent examples in international politics, MACHs can also be found in the workplace (Dahling, Whitaker, & Levy, 2009) because political perspectives also apply to organizations and careers, and organizational settings are often the contexts in which MACHs enact vocational behavior (Ferris, Harris, Russell, & Maher, 2018). MACHs strive for promotions to positions of control and personal gain, and they exploit their credibility in positions of trust for personal gain (Hirschfeld & Van Scotter, 2019). However, not all MACHs are successful in achieving vocational adjustment.…”

“…However, not all MACHs are successful in achieving vocational adjustment. Our research addresses this gap in the literature (Hirschfeld & Van Scotter, 2019) by focusing on political skill as a moderating condition.…”

“…Likewise, even for leaders engaging in deviant leader behavior (Mackey, McAllister, Maher, & Wang, 2019), in a leadership study of midlevel managers, Harvey, Harris, Kacmar, Buckless, and Pescosolido (2014) found that when managers exhibited a high degree of political skill, employee perceptions of ethical leadership increased. However, the specific career implications of the deviant behaviors of dark personalities have not yet been empirically tested with reference to the combination of MACH, political skill, and tenure (Hirschfeld & Van Scotter, 2019). By investigating the moderating role of political skill in the relation between MACH and both reputation for career role performance and CWB, we aim to unveil how MACHs might successfully camouflage their wrongdoing and get ahead in their vocational careers.…”