Really, really liking yourself may give you the edge in your next job interview, a new study suggests.
That's because narcissists, known to be obnoxiously high on self-esteem, are better able to talk about and promote themselves, which projects confidence and expertise to interviewers, University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers explained.
In their two-part study, narcissists scored much higher in a simulated job interview than equally qualified non-narcissists.
"This is one setting where it's OK to say nice things about yourself and there are no ramifications. In fact, it's expected," study co-author Peter Harms, an assistant professor of management, said in a university news release. "Simply put, those who are comfortable doing this tend to do much better than those who aren't."
The study, which appears in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, first involved 72 people being videotaped as job applicants. While non-narcissistic people eased up on their self-promotion when challenged by expert interviewers, the narcissists actually increased their attempts to promote themselves, the researchers found.
In the second part of the study, 222 expert interviewers rated videos of applicants with similar job skills and varying degrees of narcissism. The self-promoters -- those who spoke quickly and at length and used such "ingratiation tactics" as smiling, gesturing and complimenting others -- received far more positive evaluations than equally qualified applicants who used tactical modesty, the researchers reported.
"This shows that what is getting (narcissists) the win is the delivery," Harms said. "These results show just how hard it is to effectively interview, and how fallible we can be when making interview judgments. We don't necessarily want to hire narcissists, but might end up doing so because they come off as being self-confident and capable."
The findings also suggest that interviewers need to be aware of the tactics used by narcissists, Harms said.
"On the whole, we find very little evidence that narcissists are more or less effective workers. But what we do know is that they can be very disruptive and destructive when dealing with other people on a regular basis," he said.
And, he added, "If everything else is equal, it probably is best to avoid hiring them."
一项新研究显示,自恋确实能让你在下一个求职面试中占据优势。
内布拉斯加大学林肯分校的研究人员解释说,正如大家所知道的,自恋者自视过高,正因如此他们能更好地谈论自己和推销自己,展现给面试考官的是自信和有专长的形象。
在他们的这项由两部分组成的研究当中,自恋者在模拟求职面试中的得分比资质相当的不自恋者高得多。
该研究的作者之一、管理学副教授皮特•哈慕斯在一份大学资讯稿中说:“在求职面试的情境下,说自己的好话是可以接受的,在这点上并没有分歧。事实上,考官期待你夸赞自己。简而言之,那些夸赞自己时感觉很自在的面试者比那些不自在的面试者成绩好得多。”
这一发表在《应用社会心理学杂志》上的研究的第一部分让72个人参加求职,并将过程拍成录像。研究人员发现,不自恋者在受到面试专家的挑战时会减轻自我推销力度,而自恋者却更努力地推销自己。
在研究的第二部分,222位面试专家观看工作能力相近但自恋程度不同的求职者的视频,对他们做出了评价。研究人员报告说,那些自我推销者语速快、谈话内容详细,运用微笑、打手势和赞美他人等“逢迎战术”,他们比那些资质相当、采用谦虚战略的求职者得到的正面评价要多得多。
哈慕斯说:“这表明自恋者的制胜法宝其实是姿态。这些结果显示了有效面试的难度有多大,在对面试者做判断时我们有多容易犯错。我们不一定想雇用自恋者,但也许结果就雇用了这种人,因为他们表现得更自信、更有能力。”
哈慕斯说,研究结果还显示,面试考官需要留心自恋者运用的策略。
他说:“总体而言,我们发现鲜有证据表明自恋者工作算得上有效率,然而我们所知道的是,自恋者在日常与他人往来时可能产生消极的破坏性影响。”
而且,他补充说:“如果其他条件都一样的话,也许最好还是避免雇用他们。”
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