HMN 2026: How People with dark personality traits are naturally inclined towards leadership roles

Can you tell if you’re working with a narcissist or a psychopath? A new study suggests that people’s job choices may offer some clues, especially in fields built on leadership and persuasion such as business, politics, and law, where such darker traits are more common. Those in creative fields or nature-focused work may be more likely to encounter individuals with a Machiavellian way of thinking, according to findings published in Personality and Individual Differences.

Mapping career–trait associations

The cold, callous, and sometimes manipulative behavior of people we encounter in everyday life, including at work, may stem from a set of personality traits known as the dark triad—psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism. Studies have long linked these traits to how people behave and how they lead at their workplace. However, much of the earlier research treated all three as broad, one-size-fits-all traits.

To gain a more nuanced answer to the question of whether our personality traits quietly steer us toward certain careers, a team of researchers from Singapore and the United States broke the dark traits triad into seven smaller facets: psychopathy split into boldness, meanness, and disinhibition, along with Machiavellian views and tactics and narcissistic admiration and rivalry.

The team first surveyed more than 600 undergraduate students at a large U.S. university, spanning a spectrum of majors from biology and psychology to business and political science, to assess their personality traits. Then two weeks later, the same participants completed a detailed survey on their career interests, based on the SETPOINT framework, which groups careers into seven domains: health science, creative expression, technology, people, organization, influence, and nature.

Once the data were collected, the researchers used network analysis to trace how personality traits and career interests connect and influence one another. They were also on the lookout for bridge nodes, the key links that served as gateways between specific traits and the career paths people are drawn to.

In psychopathy, people with boldness—confident, composed under pressure, and naturally influential—tended to gravitate toward health science. Those with meanness, characterized by low empathy and hostility, showed a stronger interest in technology and hands-on mechanical work. Disinhibition, the impulsive facet, was linked to creative expression, such as arts and design, alongside practical, hands-on roles.

This study focused on Machiavellianism’s cynical view of human nature, along with a tendency to manipulate or exploit others. People with Machiavellian views showed interest in leadership roles, and those who related to the tactics were more drawn to roles in creative expression and nature, such as working outdoors or with animals. Overall, they showed a clear tendency to steer away from people-focused careers. Narcissism, driven by a need for praise and a strong focus on rivalry, was linked to interests in influence and creative expression.

One pattern stood out clearly: Most of the seven dark triad facets were tied to influence, suggesting a strong pull toward leadership roles where persuasion and power come into play. These patterns held true across the board for both women and men.

These results obtained were based on survey data collected from college students, not working professionals, so it remains to be seen whether the same patterns hold in real workplaces. If they do, the findings could help organizations identify and address toxic leadership, while also giving career counselors a way to guide individuals with darker traits toward healthier professional paths.

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