Agency, communion and entitlement

Measurement of Psychological Entitlement in 28 Countries

Abstract. This article presents the cross-cultural validation of the Entitlement Attitudes Questionnaire, a tool designed to measure three facets of psychological entitlement: active, passive, and revenge entitlement. Active entitlement was defined as the tendency to protect individual rights based on self-worthiness. Passive entitlement was defined as the belief in obligations to and expectations toward other people and institutions for the fulfillment of the individual’s needs. Revenge entitlement was defined as the tendency to protect one’s individual rights when violated by others and the tendency to reciprocate insults. The 15-item EAQ was validated in a series of three studies: the first one on a general Polish sample (N = 1,900), the second one on a sample of Polish students (N = 199), and the third one on student samples from 28 countries (N = 5,979). A three-factor solution was confirmed across all samples. Examination of measurement equivalence indicated partial metric invariance of EAQ for all national samples. Discriminant and convergent validity of the EAQ was also confirmed.

Entitlement and organizational behaviors: the moderating role of narcissism

<b>Background</b><br /> The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between psychological entitlement (active, passive, and revenge), narcissism and two types of organizational behaviors in employees. Interactions between narcissism and psychological entitlement as predictors of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) and counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) were explored. Predictors were analyzed in an effort to determine whether psychological entitlement plays a more destructive role among narcissistic employees than among non-narcissistic ones and whether the effects of narcissism on OCB and CWB are mediated by entitlement.<br /> <br /> <b>Participants and procedure</b><br /> Data were obtained from 100 employees (34% men) aged 22 to 59 years (M = 37.00, SD = 9.30) from public and private companies. Participants were asked to complete the Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale (OCBS), the Counterproductive Organizational Behaviors Scale (COBS), the Entitlement Questionnaire, and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI).<br /> <br /> <b>Results</b><br /> Positive aspects of entitlement were positively associated with OCB only among narcissistic employees, and active entitlement mediated the effects of narcissism on CWB. Active entitlement was negatively related to CWB. Negative aspects of entitlement were negatively related to OCB and unrelated to CWB.<br /> <br /> <b>Conclusions</b><br /> This study provides evidence for positive (healthy) aspects of entitlement for organizations. The unexpected interaction between narcissism and entitlement in predicting higher levels of OCB suggests that among narcissistic employees, healthy aspects of entitlement are desirable and profitable for an organization. Psychological entitlement was observed to be an important predictor of organizational behaviors beyond narcissism itself.