Nasty people in organizations and society
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Bertrand Russell was a 1950 Nobel laureate in literature who made major contributions to analytic philosophy and symbolic logic. However, he also had significant personal flaws, cheating on multiple wives and possibly having an affair with his schizophrenic son's wife. Despite his personal shortcomings, Russell was also morally courageous, spending time in jail for his stances on issues like conscription and nuclear weapons. Overall, while Russell had character flaws as an individual, his work had a positive social impact and helped make the world a better place.
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Nasty people in organizations and society
- 1. Seth M. Spain, Ph.D. School of Management & Center for Leadership Studies, Binghamton University
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- 3. Bertrand Russell 1950 Nobel laureate in literature Founder of analytic philosophy “grandfather” of modern symbolic logic Freethinker, pacificist Liberal, anti-Marxist socialist The “patron Saint of rationality”
- 4. Bertrand Russell Also, a right bastard Cheated on at least three of his wives May have had an affair with his schizophrenic son’s wife Dubbed the “amoral moralist”
- 5. Bertrand Russell Still, morally courageous Spent 6 months in jail for speaking out against conscription during WWI Jailed again at 89 for protesting nuclear weapons Denied teaching position at City College (NY) for his stance on sexual ethics
- 6. Bertrand Russell Personally kind of a jerk Socially, the world is probably a better place for having him live in it
- 7. All social groups are made up of interacting individuals Individuals bring with them all of their personal characteristics and dispositions Beliefs and interests Values and goals Biases Knowledge and skills The social function of individuals
- 8. Personality describes what makes a person unique “Personality” is basically a summary of a person’s habitual behavior – especially interpersonal behavior “Bright Side” or Normal-range personality (Big 5) OCEAN (next slide) Dark Side Not necessarily dysfunctional (for everyday life) “Dark triad” “Personality” and what it does for us
- 9. Openness to experience – intellectual, artistic Conscientiousness – dutiful, achievement-oriented Extraversion – positive, talkative, outgoing Agreeableness – nice, likeable Neuroticism – worrying, anxious The Big Five
- 10. Openness to experience – intellectual, artistic Conscientiousness – dutiful, achievement-oriented Extraversion – positive, talkative, outgoing Agreeableness – nice, likeable Neuroticism – worrying, anxious The Big Five
- 11. Openness to experience – intellectual, artistic Conscientiousness – dutiful, achievement-oriented Extraversion – positive, talkative, outgoing Agreeableness – nice, likeable Neuroticism – worrying, anxious The Big Five These two characteristics are generally socially useful – agreeable and conscientious people are likely to support others’ goals and work towards achieving them.
- 12. Narcissism – vain, self-focused, egotistical, entitled Machiavellianism – distrustful, deceitful, manipulative Psychopathy – unemotional, unempathetic, impulsive The Dark Triad
- 13. Narcissism – vain, self-focused, egotistical, entitled Machiavellianism – distrustful, deceitful, manipulative Psychopathy – unemotional, unempathetic, impulsive Share a core of callous disregard for others; strong preference for one’s own goals over those of others The Dark Triad
- 14. We argue that these “traits” are mostly a useful tool to organize what we know about other people For instance, when deciding whom to hire for a job, knowing who is more conscientious is useful Similarly, when meeting a potential friend, knowing how agreeable they are tells you something about how well they’ll “go along” with your plans/ideas Why do people differ?
- 15. Milgram experiment Nasty people can be socially useful, too.
- 16. Milgram experiment People lower in agreeableness have been found to be more likely to resist the authority of the experimenter Nasty people can be socially useful
- 17. Groupthink High-level decision-making made by experts…should be few errors However, group decisions can often suffer from serious, obvious errors Janis (1972) analyses of decision fiascoes Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when groups make decisions individual members know to be poor
- 18. Why Groupthink? Pressure for conformity Strong Leader Isolation of the group Group Cohesiveness
- 19. Two ways What can you, as an individual, do to improve your lot in life? What can you, as a decision-maker in an organization, do to use the proclivities of darker individuals to do? Learning to behave from “nasty people”
- 20. Narcissists may be more motivated to work hard to become leaders Want to “be the best” at what they do May be domineering and competitive with subordinates and peers, though Narcissists can be good at selling ideas May “poison” the well in long-term relationships, though Narcissism
- 21. Manipulators Liars Good at forming alliances Use lots of social influence tactics (“Protean”) Engage in office politics Willing to use threats, intimidation Willing to beg and compromise “Do what needs to be done” Machiavellianism
- 22. Core of Machiavellian personality Euphemism for “paranoid” Described as “having a chip on [their] shoulders” Suspicious People high in skepticism look for—and find!— ulterior motives in interpersonal interactions Bad for development Bad for team-work Skepticism
- 23. Psychopathy Not prone to feeling guilt or shame Less anxiety than others Impulsive Willing to harm others to succeed
- 24. The Dark Triad Narcissism Machiavellianism Psychopathy Powerfully agentic Puts self ahead of others “Not a team player” Bond, James Bond
- 25. Thanks!