Narcissism & Machiavellianism were positive predictors of task performance; psychopathy & sadism were negative predictors; narcissism was positively related to contextual performance

Bad guys perform better? The incremental predictive validity of the Dark Tetrad over Big Five and Honesty-Humility. Elena Fernández-del-Río, Pedro J. Ramos-Villagrasa, Juan Ramón Barrada. Personality and Individual Differences, November 15 2019, 109700. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.109700

Highlights
• Dark Tetrad has incremental effects over Big Five and Honesty-Humility.
• Narcissism and Machiavellianism were positive predictors of task performance.
• Psychopathy and sadism were negative predictors of task performance.
• Narcissism was positively related to contextual performance.
• Sadism was positively related to counterproductive work behavior.

Abstract: This study analyzed incremental effects of the Dark Tetrad traits (i.e., narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, sadism) on job performance dimensions (i.e., task performance, contextual performance, counterproductive work behavior) over the Big Five and Honesty-Humility. Using a multi-occupational sample of 613 employees, results revealed positive outcomes depending on the specific Dark Tetrad trait analyzed. After including sociodemographic and work-related variables, Big Five, and Honesty-Humility, narcissism and Machiavellianism were positively related to task performance, whereas psychopathy and sadism were negative predictors. Narcissism was also a positive predictor of contextual performance, while sadism was positively related to counterproductive work behavior. These results show that the Dark Tetrad is useful in its own right and incrementally above normal-range personality measures.

Keywords: NarcissismMachiavellianismPsychopathySadismBig FiveHonesty-HumilityJob performance