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Self-centered and self-employed: Gender and the relationship between narcissism and self-employment

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  • Harms, P.D.
  • Patel, Pankaj C.
  • Carnevale, Joel B.

Abstract

The present study draws from Person-Environment (P-E) Fit theory to examine the relationship between Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) and self-employment status as well as the potential for gender to moderate this relationship. Two-wave archival data involving 29,000 respondents of a representative sample provided overall support for our predictions. The results show that although there is a small positive overall effect linking NPD with self-employment, this relationship is moderated by gender such that narcissistic women are less likely to be self-employed than narcissistic men. Moreover, exploratory results demonstrate that narcissists do not ultimately benefit from self-employment status. Specifically, there was no difference in the incomes of narcissists who were self-employed and those who were not. These results suggest that the effects of narcissism on career choice is more complicated than initially believed.

Suggested Citation

  • Harms, P.D. & Patel, Pankaj C. & Carnevale, Joel B., 2020. "Self-centered and self-employed: Gender and the relationship between narcissism and self-employment," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 170-179.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:121:y:2020:i:c:p:170-179
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.08.028
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