The phrase “ nice guy cable polish off last ” reflects the uncouth perception that selfish people aremore likely to succeed . Anyone who has had the misfortune to puzzle out for an opprobrious manager has probably suspected their filthiness help them rise – it ’s not like such people ordinarily seem in particular competent . However , new enquiry throws uncertainty on this , indicate unpleasant hoi polloi are no more likely to make a quick rise up the corporate ladder .
Professor Cameron Andersonof the University of California , Berkeley , comport personality assessments of thousands of undergrad and MBA student at three American universities . An norm of 14 year later 671 of these harmonise to follow up interview that were used to figure how powerful their current job was , and the culture of the organisation where they work . Almost a third of participant were part of a study that asked more elaborated question and reassert findings with consultation of coworkers .
InProceedings of the National Academy Of Sciences , Anderson and co - authors report some personality traits are associated with make headway more fourth-year place by one ’s mid-30s , but knavery , aggression , and selfishness are not among them .
" I was surprised by the consistency of the findings . No matter the individual or the context , disagreeableness did not give people an advantage in the competition for power – even in more cutthroat , ' frankfurter - eat - dog ' organizational culture , " Anderson said in astatement . On the other hand , it does n’t seem to hurt either .
The author think this is likely because the gains and losses of being a jerking roughly cancel out – for every person who gets in front by backstabbing or intimidation , there is someone who trip themselves up for wish of interpersonal relationship . The generator forebode there might be an invert - U family relationship , where the overnice and nastiest people both fail to rise , but did n’t notice this either . Wherever someone score on the spectrum of decency , they had a some equal chance of obtaining force .
Some agreeable masses at university might have turned manipulative on reaching the first rung of the corporate ravel , but , based on past inquiry , the authors take note “ Disagreeableness is a comparatively stable aspect of personality . ”
As the writer drop a line , the findings count because “ Disagreeable individuals with top executive can have toxic far - reaching effects . ” Moreover , those who obtain positions of prominence as well as power “ Serve as asocial function fashion model and further others to behave more disagreeably . ” Learning that obnoxiousness is not a prerequisite for winner could countercheck that .
The trait that predicted career achiever were unsurprising . mass account as extroverted , assertive , energetic , and sociable by their schoolfellow were more probable to stop up in place of power .
So if people in hefty status are not intrinsically nastier than the repose of us , why do we surmise otherwise ? One hypothesis is that it is purely percept ; a someone with a distinctive mix of decency and selfishness will seem cruel simply by merit of the hurt their decisions can cause to those below . On the other hired man , the authors acknowledge , it is possible that acquiring force changes enough of us that the perception is rightful , but only because average people have been twist around by their Book of Job .
