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Findings

This study examined the interacting role of narcissism and individualism on the BTAE of multiple traits (Honesty, Sociability, Kindness, Intelligence, Extraversion and Agreeableness). Particularly it was tested whether the relationship between individualism and the BTAE is dependent on the level of narcissism.

The first hypothesis was not supported for the characteristics Honesty, Sociable, Kindness, Intelligence and Agreeableness. Out of the results could not be concluded that individualism has a significant effect on the BTAE for these characteristics. The first hypothesis is supported for the characteristic Extraversion. Out of the results could be concluded that individualism has a significant positive effect on the BTAE for this characteristic.

The second hypothesis was not supported for the characteristics Kindness, Extraversion and Agreeableness. The results showed that there is not enough evidence to say that there is a positive interaction effect between Individualism and Narcissism on the BTAE for these characteristics. Hence, there was no proof that the BTAE of an individualistic person who is narcissistic would be higher than the BTAE of an individualistic person who is not narcissistic.

The second hypothesis was supported for the characteristics Honesty, Sociable, Intelligence.

The results showed that there is enough evidence to say that there is a positive interaction effect between Individualism and Narcissism on the BTAE for these characteristics. Hence, there was proof that the BTAE of an individualistic person who is narcissistic would be higher than the BTAE of an individualistic person who is not narcissistic.

This research investigated someone’s personal level of individualism instead of earlier research which looked at the culture of the country of residence from respondents (Zell, 2020).

The lack of significance of an effect between individualism and the BTAE is in line with previous research stating that self-enhancement and, therefore, the BTAE is a pancultural

phenomenon that is applicable to everyone, regardless of culture (Sedikides et al., 2003). It is interesting to see that individualists believe themselves to be more extravert than average since previous research proposes that individualists like to focus on themselves and not perse go out of their way to meet new people like extraverts do (Beck, 2012). The conclusion that individualists believe to be extraverts differs from previous research, which indicates that individualists tend to stay to themselves (Lukes, 2006). It could be that individualists are not extravert since they do not want to be extravert but believe that if they have or want to be extravert, they are very good at it. There could be a Dunning-Kruger (2011) effect since individualists would not experience many situations where they must be extraverts. Therefore, it is possible that they cannot correctly judge their behavior since they lack experience in them.

Moreover, this research looked into the moderation effect of Narcissism on Individualism. For the characteristics Honesty, Sociable and Intelligence a positive moderation effect of Narcissism was found. Regarding previous research it is no surprise that Narcissism will lead to an interaction effect for these variables. Previous research shows evidence for narcissists to believe they are very intelligent and likeable (Emmons, 1987). Individualists also often believe they are very intelligent (Beck, 2012), therefore it is in line with expectations that narcissism has a positive interaction effect with Individualism and heightens the BTAE for this characteristic.

It is noteworthy that, on the one hand, Narcissism did cause a positive interaction effect with Individualism on the characteristic Sociable. Narcissists live off other people’s attention, which lead them to surround themselves with others the majority of the time and be very social (Lasch, 2019). On the other hand, it is a bit contradictory that in this research narcissism did not cause a significant interaction effect for the characteristic Extraversion. Narcissists are often very outgoing and seek others since they need people to validate them, this makes them quite extravert (Lasch, 2019). It is interesting that there was a significant effect for the characteristic

Sociable, but not for Extraversion even though the two characteristics show many similarities and are both presumed important qualities for narcissists. This difference in significance could be the result of a not defined enough scale for the characteristics. In this research the mini-IPIP scales from Donnellan et al. (2006) was used to assess Extraversion. For Sociable there were only two questions where the respondents first ranked themselves and later ranked the average person. This is less reliable than the scale of Donnellan (2006) where multiple questions are asked to scale the characteristic, which leads to a better foundation for measurement.

Practical Implications

For management, it is recommended based on these outcomes not to worry when solicitants or employees display signs of individualism. Individualism hardly plays a part with the BTAE, and therefore individualists will not be perceived as arrogant or unpleasant coworkers, regarding this concept. This lack of BTAE will also result in better leaders since people who do not overestimate themselves seem to be better at the decision-making process than those who do overestimate themselves and their abilities (Foster et al., 2018). However, when there is a mild BTAE, it can also result in a better work environment, since people who believe themselves to be better than average tend to be overall happier with themselves and perform better than those who do not (Campbell & Sedikides, 1999).

In contrast, when employees or solicitants show signs of narcissism, employers should worry. Narcissists are notoriously challenging to work with and tend to be unpleasant coworkers (Judge et al., 2006). Narcissists are already seen as arrogant and oblivious to others needs and desires (Freud, 2014). In relation to the BTAE, narcissism will highlight the negative effect of the BTAE on the work environment, which will result in an unpleasant workplace for their coworkers. Therefore, employers should try to filter narcissists from the applicants by providing a required personality test that measures this trait.

Limitations

As previously mentioned, due to the chosen sample, the results of this study could be study-specific and not generalizable. Non-random sampling was used which limits the generalizability. Because of lack of time, it was not possible to use random sampling, this is something future research could implement in order to increase the generalizability of future research regarding Individualism, Narcissism and the BTAE.

As mentioned before, the questions to measure the BTAE of characteristics were limited. For Honesty, Sociability, Kindness, and Intelligence no scale was used. By using a scale to measure these characteristics it is illustrated better to what extent someone believes they possess the characteristic. This results in a more reliable picture of the overall personage and their perceived self-image. Extraversion and Agreeableness were measured on a scale;

however, this was a mini scale. These characteristics could also have been measured more thoroughly.

Lastly, there could be a social-desirability bias, there is a chance that respondents in the survey answered the questions in a manner that would be viewed favorably resulting in the overreporting of good behavior and underreporting of undesirably behavior. Therefore, not being honest about their traits, to prevent from coming off as cocky or arrogant. Especially the fact that participants were comparing themselves to others could have enhanced this bias. This is because, comparing themselves to others could have made participants more aware of their own behavior and what is socially desirable.

Recommendation for future research

From the control variables, egocentrism had a significant effect on the BTAE of Honesty and Agreeableness. Egocentrism has been linked to the BTAE before. This research contributes to the notion that egocentrism is a predictor of the BTAE. However, it is contradictory that egocentrists believe themselves to be agreeable since egocentrists tend to focus on themselves solely and are not prone to make compromises since they believe their view is the only correct and valuable view. Even the characteristics that are not perse linked to egocentrism can be influenced by this trait, as this research proved. Therefore, it would be interesting to research egocentrism further concerning the BTAE and see which specific characteristics are heightened by egocentrism.

Furthermore, it would be interesting to conduct qualitative research next to quantitative research to thoroughly examine the feeling people have regarding coworkers who display the BTAE. By looking into the possible effect, a perceived BTAE has on relationships in the workplace. This research could be done by distributing a questionnaire beforehand, which measures the BTAE of the participants—followed up by an experiment where people have to solve problems together in an office setting. In-depth questions about their teammates should follow up this experiment, and it should be investigated whether they perceived their teammates as pleasant, arrogant or neutral. Afterwards, researchers can compare the findings from the qualitative research with the outcomes of the questionnaire. As a result, researchers can conclude more on the relation between the BTAE and likeability.

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