Egos deflating with the Great Recession: A cross-temporal meta-analysis and within-campus analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, 1982–2016

Narcissism Is Not Associated With Success in U.S. Army Soldier Training

INTRODUCTION

Narcissism has been studied for its role in leadership using various versions of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI). Narcissism is described as having a "dark and negative" side as well as a "positive or bright" side. The bright side of narcissism, in particular, has been studied for its role in leadership. In studies among military personnel in Finland and Hungary, the NPI has been associated with positive leadership traits. We assessed if measures of narcissistic personality were predictive of entrance to and graduation from the Army Ranger Course among United States (U.S.) Army personnel.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We included the NPI as one of the measures in the Ranger Resilience and Improved Performance on Phospholipid-bound Omega-3's (RRIPP-3) study. RRIPP-3 was a double-blind, placebo-controlled dietary supplement intervention trial at Fort Benning, GA, that enrolled 555 officers when they entered the U.S. Army Infantry Basic Officer Leadership Course (IBOLC) with the intention to complete the U.S. Ranger School. RRIPP-3 volunteer participants consumed eight dietary supplements daily containing 2.3 g of omega-3 (krill oil) or macadamia nut oil (control) over a 20-week period. Blood spot samples were collected to monitor intake compliance. Cognitive functioning, resilience, and mood were assessed at approximately 14 and 16 weeks. Dietary intake was also assessed. The 40-item, forced-choice NPI was included to assess if three factors of narcissism: Leadership/Authority, Grandiose/Exhibitionism, and Entitlement/Exploitativeness measures of narcissistic personality were associated with entrance to and graduation from the Army Ranger Course.

RESULTS

Of the 555 soldiers enrolled in RRIPP-3, there were no statistically significant differences in the total NPI scores comparing U.S. Army IBOLC officers who enrolled (n = 225) versus did not enroll (n = 330, p = .649) or graduated (n = 95; versus did not graduate [n = 460, p = .451]) from the Ranger Course. None of the three-factor NPI subscales differed statistically comparing either enrollment in (p = .442, .510, and .589, respectively) or graduation from the Ranger Course (p = .814, .508, and .813, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Although narcissism has been positively associated with military trainee success in other countries, we did not find an association between narcissism and trainee success among U.S. Army trainees, and accordingly the level of narcissism did not predict trainee success or failure.

Core Self-Evaluations Increases Among Chinese Employees: A Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis, 2010–2019

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the changes in core self-evaluation (CSE) scores among Chinese employees during 2010–2019. We conducted a cross-temporal meta-analysis including 50 studies (17,400 Chinese employees) to evaluate the relationship between the year of data collection and levels of CSE. We found that correlations between levels of CSE and year of data collection were strong and positive (r > 0.500). Regression results showed that the year of data collection could predict the CSE score when the mean sample age and sex ratio (%female) were controlled. In addition, CSE scores were positively related to GDP per capita and negatively related to the unemployment rate.