Are Two Narcissists Mutually Exclusive? Toward Understanding the Effects of Leader-subordinate (Dis)similarity in Narcissism

Abstract

Prior research suggests that leader narcissism can undermine important subordinate outcomes, such as subordinate behavior and performance. However, these studies have exclusively focused on leader narcissism, neglecting to consider that subordinate narcissism should also be taken into account. Based on narcissism and similarity-attraction theory, we provide an integrated perspective and predict that narcissism (dis)similarity shapes leader-subordinate dynamics. Using a multi-source and multi-wave survey, 448 leader-subordinate dyads data (from 76 teams) supported our model: Polynomial regression and response surface analyses showed that similarity predicts counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs), but this effect is asymmetrical; CWBs are lower when leader-subordinate narcissism are similar low rather than high. On the other hand, dissimilarity predicts high CWBs, and this effect is also asymmetric; this positive effect is stronger when subordinate narcissism is higher (rather than lower) than leader narcissism. Finally, these effects of (dis)similarity on CWBs were found to be moderated by high and low team performance pressures. Overall, our study suggests that narcissism (dis)similarity affects leadersubordinate dynamics and subordinate CWBs. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for designing functional leader-subordinate dyads in organizations.