The analysis revealed that there was a statistically significant positive correlation between conscientiousness and narcissism. Thus, the hypothesis that there was a positive relationship between conscientiousness and narcissism was accepted. In other words, the more narcissistic the participants were, the more they wished to do their work diligently and thoroughly. Therefore, the hypothesis that However, even though the correlation coefficient between the variables was statistically significant, it was small, which indicated a weak correlation (Taylor, 1990). Thus, even though conscientiousness can be used to predict narcissism and vice versa, the predictive abilities of such models would be small (McClaive et al., 2018).
The results of the research made a significant contribution to the current body of knowledge, as the literature review revealed no recent research that studied the correlation between conscientiousness and narcissism. Before this study, the information about the relationship between narcissism and conscientiousness was mainly indirect. For instance, Venkatesh et al. (2021) stated that conscientious people were more productive than non-conscientious employees during the post-COVID period. At the same time, Kim et al. (2021) found that narcissistic people were not productive leaders, as they tended to focus on themselves, which increased the sense of uncertainty among the employees. Thus, it appeared that the concepts of conscientiousness and narcissism would be mutually exclusive, which implies that there would be a negative correlation. However, the results of this research revealed that there was a positive correlation between the concepts, which was inconsistent with the analysis provided above.
It should also be noted that the results of this research were also inconsistent with the current body of knowledge. Zajenkowski and Szymaniak (2021) conducted in-depth research studying the correlations between narcissism and the big five traits, which included that assertiveness, intellect, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism. The results revealed that narcissism correlated positively with assertiveness and intellect and negatively with agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism (Zajenkowski & Szymaniak, 2021). Thus, since this research was inconsistent with previous findings and results of the analysis, it is crucial to search for possible explanations for the matter.
This research suggests that the positive correlation between the phenomenon can be explained in two ways. First, this research assumes that narcissistic people and conscientious people have a common aspiration. In particular, conscientious people tend t be more effective, as they do their work diligently. At the same time, narcissistic people can also be effective if their work helps to pursue their personal goals, such as receiving a promotion or higher pay. However, the correlation was weak because narcissistic people are not always effective, as they can avoid performing their duties well when their work does not help to achieve their personal goals.
Another explanation of the inconsistency of the results of this study and the study by Zajenkowski and Szymaniak (2021) may be in the population under analysis. Zajenkowski and Szymaniak (2021) used a sample of 437 participants through social networking sites, which implies that their population under analysis was people that used publicly accessible social networking websites. This research used a sample of university students, which implies that the populations were different.
Additionally, the inconsistency may be the result of the methodological flaws of this study. In particular, this study utilized a sample of readily-available students, which implies that the sampling method was non-probabilistic. As a result, not all the representatives of the population had an equal chance of participating in the study, which may be associated with a significant degree of bias. Thus, further research is required to explain the inconsistency of this study’s findings.
References
McClaive, J., Benson, G., & Sincich, D. (2018). Statistics for business and economics. Pearson.
Kim, J., Lee, H. W., Gao, H., & Johnson, R. E. (2021). When CEOs are all about themselves: Perceived CEO narcissism and middle managers’ workplace behaviors amid the COVID- 19 pandemic. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(9), 1283–1298. Web.
Taylor, R. (1990). Interpretation of the correlation coefficient: a basic review. Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, 6(1), 35-39. Web.
Venkatesh, V., Ganster, D. C., Schuetz, S. W., & Sykes, T. A. (2021). Risks and rewards of conscientiousness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(5), 643–656. Web.
Zajenkowski, M., & Szymaniak, K. (2021). Narcissism between facets and domains. The relationships between two types of narcissism and aspects of the Big Five. Current Psychology, 40(5), 2112-2121. Web.