The Affects of Narcissism and Work Creativity, Research Paper Example

Abstract

The current study investigates the effect of individual differences (narcissism and work creativity) on school performances, work-to school conflict (WSC) and work- to school enrichment (WSE).  Research has suggested that narcissism is directly related to creativity because narcissistic people are more motivated to create new ideas.  Individuals have many roles in their lives and the outcome of their success can be dependent of the different roles and how they are able to balance them.  Our study found that creativity and narcissism was positively correlated with WSE and School Performance.  In addition, our study found that creativity and narcissism was negatively correlated with WSC.  Furthermore, it was indicated that both creativity and narcissism are good predictors of WSC.

Introduction

Narcissism can be defined as a grandiose yet fragile self and entitlement with a preoccupation for success and a strong demand for admiration from others.  Creativity at work can be defined as the ability to produce novel or new products and ideas.  What do these two terms, Narcissism and Creativity at work, have in common?  Research suggests that narcissism is directly related to creativity because narcissistic people are more motivated to create new ideas and to have the attention and admiration placed on them. (Raskin, 1980)  In addition, creative individuals are more likely to spend their time sheltered from others and they become obsessed in their work.  This leads to the appearance of narcissism from other individual points of views.  (Barron and Harrington, 1981)   There are, however, some variables that can change narcissistic and creativity in an individual, as well as predict the outcome of their success in school or work, such as the individual’s role in life or the balance of their roles in life.  Individuals can have multiple roles in their lives, such as mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, students, bosses, friends, etc.  Even narcissistic individuals take on these roles; therefore, the outcome of their success in their lives can be based on these dependent variables, such as life role and their balance of their life role.   The purpose of the current study is to investigate the effect of individual differences (narcissism and work creativity) on school performances, work-to-school conflict (WSC) and work-to-school enrichment (WSE).

Researchers have developed what is referred to as “the role theory”.  The role theory, is a perspective that attempts to understand the work-school combination in individuals (McNall and Michel, 2011; Butler, 2007; Broadbridge and Swanson, 2005; Katz and Kahn, 1978) The role theory is explained as individuals that have multiple roles throughout their lifetime and the organization of these roles is difficult, especially for individuals who have a manifold of roles, such as work and school. (McNall and Michel, 2011; Geenhas and Beutell 1985)   The work and school combination is referred to as the “work-school conflict (WSC)” and can be defined as “the degree to which work hinders or interferes with a student’s capacity to meet their school-related responsibilities, demands, tasks, etc. (McNall and Michel, 2011)”.  McNall and Michel (2011) conducted a study to understand how personality influences work and school conflicts.  They found that emotionally stable people who have positive self-evaluations and are in control of their lives are less likely to feel that work interfered with school.  In another study, narcissism was evaluated with grades in undergraduate students.  It was found that narcissism was significantly correlated with the grades that participants expected to receive in their courses, with the narcissistic individuals expecting higher grades.  (Farwell and Wohlwend-Lloyd, 2008)

There are also theories developed that investigate the role of a balanced approach to roles in an individual’s life, such as focusing on both the costs and benefits to an individual having multiple roles in their life.  Researchers suggest that taking on multiple roles is extremely beneficial to an individual because it increases the amount of resources available to them, such as skills, money, and material possessions.  (McNall and Michel, 2011)   Therefore, there is a term that has been manipulated and referred to as “Work-school enrichment (WSE)”.  This term is referred to as the degree to which working improves the excellence of the school role. (McNall and Michel, 2011, Butler and Matthews, 2009; Greenhaus and Powell, 2006)  Research suggests that people who are both working and in school can develop needed skills from their job, such as time management, networking, computer skills, and organization skills that can help increase their performance at school.  (McNall and Michel, 2011) In addition, Marks and MacDermid (1996) found that role balance suggests that individuals who balance their responsibilities produce beneficial consequences.  Furthermore, in a study conducted by Carlson (et al., 2009), the researchers found that balance had a significant impact on both work and family performance in that is decreased conflict and increased enrichment.  In the current study, there are several predications that are made based on creativity, narcissism, WSE and WSC. From the predictions, three hypotheses have been formulated.  Hypothesis one states “Creativity will be (a) positively related to WSE, (b) negatively related to WSC, (c) positively related to school performance.”  Hypthesis two states, “Participants high in narcissism will (a) experience more WSE, (b) less WSC and (c) perform better in school than participants low in narcissism”.  Hypothesis three states, “Creativity and Narcissism will predict (a) WSE, (b) WSC and (c) School performance”.

Methods

Participants

Three-Hundred and Eighty-Six student from an undergraduate college at a University in the United States participated in an experimental study.  The participants were for the most part evenly distributed around 25% each as Freshman, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors.  52% of the participants were male and 48% were female.  The majority of the volunteer students were Black (23.1%).  22.3% were Hispanic, 21.7% were White, 16.9% were Asian, and 16% were “Other”.

Measures

The participants were asked to the following information on an online survey: college year, sex, race, and number of hours worked.  In addition, the participants were asked to indicate their answers to a survey using a 5-point Likert-type scale (1=Strongly Disagree to 5= Strongly Agree).

Creativity at work.

Creativity at work was measured using 13 items from Zhou and George (2001).  Sample items include: “Suggest new ways to achieve goals or objectives” and “Comes up with new practical ideas to improve performance”.  The responses were based on 1-5. 1=Not at all charactersitc, 2=Slightly characteristic, 3=Moderately characteristic, 4=Very characteristic, 5=Extremely characteristic.

Narcissism.

Narcissism at work was measured using 16 items from Ames et al, (2006).  Sample items include: “I know that I am good because everybody keeps telling me so” and “I think I am a special person”.   The score was coded as “1” for narcissism-consistent responses and “0” as narcissism inconsistent responses.

Work-School Conflict

Work-School Conflict was measured using 5 items from Markel and Frone (1998).  Sample items include: “Because of my job, I go to school tired” and “My job demands and responsibilities interfere with my schoolwork”.  The score was coded based on the frequency in which the volunteer experienced the situation in a code from 1-5.  1=Never, 2=Rarely, 3=Sometimes, 4=Very Often, 5=Always.

Work-School Enrichement

Work-School Enrichment was measured using 9 items from Carlson (2006).  Sample items include: “My involvement in my work helps me to understand different viewpoints and this helps me be a better student” and “My involvement in my work helps me to gain knowledge and this helps me be a better student”.  The responses were coded in regard to strongly agreeing and not agreeing.  1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Neither Agree nor Disagree, 4=Agree, and 5=Strongly Agree.

School Performance

School Performance was measured using 9 items from Markel and Frone (1998) and 9 items from Bulter (2007).  Sample items include: “I put forth a high level of effort in class” and “I completed assigned homework on time”.  The responses were measured based on the question: “During the past school year, how often have you done each of the following things”.  The responses were coded based on the responses: 1=Never, 2=Rarely, 3=Sometimes, 4=Very Often, 5=Always.

Procedure

An email was sent to potential college students, all of which were psychology majors, requesting their participation in the online survey.  The participants clicked on the survey link, read the consent page and clicked whether or not they were willing to participate.  The participants responded to questions about all of the independent variables and dependent variables.  All participants were able to see the questions in the same order.  In addition, the participants answered the demographics questionnaire.

Results

The dependent variables used were Work to school enrichment, Work to school conflict (WSC), and School performance.  The scores from the surveys were added up for all of the questionnaire items that asked a similar question.  These variables were measured using Mean, Standard Deviation, Pearson Correlation, ANOVA, and Regression Analysis.  The relationship between Creativity and School Performance was investigated using Pearson product-moment correlation.  There was a moderate positive relationship between the two variables, r=3.94, p<.01 (2-tailed).  Higher creativity levels associated with higher levels of school performance.  The relationship between Creativity and Work-School Enrichment was investigated using Pearson product-moment correlation.  There was a statistically significant moderate positive correlation between creativity and Work-School Enrichment.  The results for creativity and work school enrichment were, r=3.23, p<.01 (2-tailed).  Higher creativity levels associated with higher levels of  Work-School Enrichment.    The relationship between Creativity and Work-School Conflict was investigated using Pearson product-moment correlation. There was a small negative correlation between Creativity and Work-School Conflict, r=-.257, p<.01 (2-tailed). Higher creativity levels associated with lower levels of Work-School Conflict.

The relationship between Narcissism and School Performance was investigated using Pearson product-moment correlation.  The results for narcissism and school performance indicated a moderately positive correlation, r=3.04, p<.01 (2-tailed). The higher levels of narcissism, the higher the levels of school performance. The relationship between Narcissism and Work School Enrichment was investigated using Pearson product-moment correlation.  The results for Narcissism and Work School Enrichment indicated a small positive, r=.147, p<.01 (2-tailed).  The higher levels of narcissism, the higher levels of Work School Enrichment.  There was a moderately significant negative correlation between Creativity and Work School Conflict, r=-.440, p<.01 (2-tailed).  The higher the Narcissism, the lower the Work School Conflict.

A multiple regression was conducted to assess the ability of creativity and narcissism to predict Work School enrichment, Work School conflict and school performance.   From the data, Creativity and Narcissism explained 11.8% of the variance in the outcome of the results for Work School enrichment. Creativity significantly predicted Work School Enrichment, b=.303, p<.01.  From the results, Creativity and Narcissism explained 22.5% of the variance in the outcome of the results for Work School Conflict.  Narcissism had a significantly predicted Work-School Conflict, b=-.406. p<.01.   In addition, Creativity and Narcissism explained 21.0% of the variance in the outcome of the results for school performance.  Creativity was a better predictor for School performance and there was a positive correlation, b=.349, p<.01.

Discussion

Research has suggested that narcissism is directly related to creativity because narcissistic people are more motivated to create new ideas and to have the attention and admiration placed on them. (Raskin, 1980)  The purpose of the current study is to investigate the effect of individual differences (narcissism and work creativity) on school performances, work-to-school conflict (WSC) and work-to-school enrichment.  There were three hypotheses tested.  Hypothesis “1” stated that creativity would be (a) positively related to Work School Enrichment, (b) negatively related to Work School Conflict, and (c) positively related to school performance.  Hypothesis “2” stated that participants high in narcissism would (a) experience more Work School Enrichment (b) less Work School Conflict and (c) perform better in school than participants low in narcissism.  Hypothesis “3” stated that Creativity and Narcissism would predict (a) a Work School Enrichment, (b) Work School Conflict and (c) School performance.

Our results indicate that Hypothesis “1” was supported.  Creativity exhibited a positive correlation with Work School Enrichment and School Performance and a negative correlation with Work School Conflict.  This indicates that more creative individuals perform better in school in general and as well as when they are participating in both work and school activities.  This is further confirmed through the negative correlation associated with creative individuals and Work School Conflict.  Since there was a negative correlation, this indicates that creative individuals were able to control both work and school at the same time without a conflict between the two in regard to work or school performance.  However, the degree to which creative individuals are able to handle both work and school was not tested.  This proves opposite from other research that has found a significant positive relationship between proactive personalities and Work-Family conflict.  (Aryee et al., 2005)  Although, the Work-family relationship was not tested in this research, it suggests that there are some variables in which creative individuals may experience some trouble when undertaking too many life activities.  In addition, previous literature has found that creative individuals, such as that with proactive personalities, offer traits that enable them to use the learned experiences from work into their school work.  Future research should therefore focus on specific traits in which creative individuals use at work and apply to school in order to correlate certain jobs that increase school performance.

Our results indicate that Hypothesis “2” was supported as well.  As with creative individuals, Narcissistic individuals exhibited a positive correlation with Work School Enrichment (WSE) and School Performance and a negative correlation with Work School Conflict (WSC).  This indicates that narcissistic individuals perform better in school in general and as well as when they are participating in both work and school activities.  This is further confirmed through the negative correlation associated with narcissistic individuals and Work School Conflict (WSC).  Since there was a negative correlation, this indicates that narcissistic individuals were able to control both work and school at the same time without a conflict between the two in regard to work or school performance.  As in the previous study conducted by Farwell and Wholen-Lloyd (2008), narcissistic undergraduate college students showed a significant positive correlation with their expectation of high grades and the actual grades that they received.  The narcissistic students received high grades.  Our study supports the fact that narcissistic individuals do show a positive correlation between school performance and narcissism.  Our study did not, however, evaluate their expectations for grades.  Therefore, more work should be conducted in order to evaluate narcissism and a student’s Grade Point Average directly against both Work School Conflicts (WSC) and School Performance.

The results from Hypothesis “3” indicate that there was a positive significant correlation between both Creativity and Narcissism when paired with the different variables, such as Work-School Enrichment, Work-School Conflict (WSC) and School Performance.  However, there was a greater correlation between Creativity and Work-School Enrichment (WSE) compared to Narcissism and Work-School Enrichment (WSE).  Perhaps creative individuals enjoy school and learning different techniques versus individuals who already think they know more than they actually do. Future studies should focus on the types of school enrichments and the positive correlation with creative individuals.  Our study also illustrated that Creativity and Narcissism are better predictors of Work-School Conflict than Work School Enrichment.  This is expected since creativity and narcissism have shown a strong significant negative correlation with Work-School Conflict.  It can be assumed that creative narcissistic individuals do not experience conflict in their lives.  Previous research conducted by McNall and Michel (2010) found that emotionally stable individuals who had control of their lives were less likely to state that work interfered with school.

Limitations

Studies have limitations that should be stated.  One potential limitation in the current study that should be acknowledged is the data that was presented was based on self-report data.  This type of data increases the chance for potential bias in regard to causality.  The study be take into consideration that some of the results for Work-School Enrichment and School Performance may incorrect based on the answers from the participants.  However, the relationship between some of the variables in which bivariate correlations were conducted, such as Work School Conflict and Creativity and Work School Conflict and Narcissism may not have as much bias.  In addition, we did not obtain GPA from official college records; therefore, there are more concerns for bias.  Future research should obtain official college records in order to decrease any sort of bias and decrease limitations.

A second possible limitation is that the sample did not include whether or not the students lived at home with their parents, on-campus residence, or off-campus residence.  It is possible that college students who are on their own might experience more stress when juggling work and school, as well as, providing for themselves.  This brings us to another possible limitation in regard to finances.  Students who are paying for their own college might have more reason to do well in college.  For instance, research has found that extrinsic rewards can increase motivation. (Ripley, 2010) In this case, the reward for working is receiving a college degree.

The final limitation is the need for a more specific detail of the type of work and the actual hours in which the student is at the job.  For instance, one student might have an office job, which requires computer work sitting at a desk; whereas, another student might work in construction, which requires heavy labor.  Not only is there a difference in the type of labor, there is a difference in the type of skills the students are requiring.  It would be a good idea to evaluate these details in order to establish the types of jobs that are better suited for students in regard to school performance and work-school conflict.

Implications

The results of this student have indicated that area is significant correlations between creativity and narcissism when evaluated against Work School Enrichment (WSE), Work School Conflict (WSC) and School Performance.   Although there were strong positive correlations between both creativity and narcissism when paired with both Work School Enrichment and School Performance, there was however a stronger negative correlation between creativity and narcissism when paired with Work School Conflict.  In addition, the results indicated that creativity and narcissism were better predictors of Work School Conflict than Work School Enrichment.  This is important information because it indicates that both creative and narcissistic individuals perform well in school even when they are working.  In addition, it shows that they experience low conflict when they take on different roles in their life.  Furthermore this shows us that both types of personality traits, creativity and narcissism shows are good predictors or the work-school combination.

In addition, this study opens the doors for researchers to begin to study detailed jobs and their effects on school performance.  Since we have illustrated that both personality traits are good predictors for the work-school interface, researchers can now focus on what specific jobs are good predictors for school performance for working students.

Conclusion                                                                                       

Overall, the effect of working while in college is an important topic in our society.  Many college students to work in order to either support themselves or pay for school.  Our results have found that individuals who are both creative and narcissistic have a good Work School Enrichment and School Performance.  In addition, it was found that highly creative and narcissistic individuals have a low Work-School conflict.  This illustrates that certain personality traits are essential to performing well in school when having to work as well.  This research is important because teachers and the school districts can implement learning programs that can help develop these sorts of traits in children in order for them to do well in the future when they further their education.  In addition, these sorts of skills may help children succeed at their level as well.

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