Toxic personality is a term used to describe people who act greedy, indecent and dishonest and take the truth very lightly. dr. Mareike Kholin, Bastian Kückelhaus and Prof. Dr. Gerhard Blickle from the Department of Psychology at the University of Bonn discovered why such people can still succeed in their careers. The trick that leads to the top is social skills.
Social skills in themselves are a good thing in the workplace. They can open closed doors and help you deal with everyday stress. But they can also be used to deceive others, abuse trust, or build a facade of harmlessness behind which lies deception. dr. Mareike Kholin and the research team found that toxic personalities considered socially adept by their peers were considered more capable by their superiors and occupied a higher hierarchical position. “We have to get used to the idea that social skills can be a double-edged sword,” says Kholin.
In personality tests, “toxic” individuals score low in the “honesty” and “modesty” categories. “Such personalities tend to focus on themselves all the time,” says Blickle. “Good social skills enable them to mislead others.” On the other hand, those who are outspokenly honest and modest are a real joy for their team:such individuals behave honestly and allow colleagues to share in their successes.
Low values for the “honesty” and “modesty” attributes
Psychologists from the University of Bonn investigated the phenomenon by interviewing different work teams:first the participants filled out an anonymous online survey and rated themselves on the characteristics of “honesty” and “modesty” among other things. Colleagues then provided information about the participant's social skills. The participant's supervisor then gave an assessment of his work performance. The researchers were able to collect data from a total of 203 such “trios” of employees, colleagues and executives.
The results showed that employees with low values for honesty and modesty can still succeed in their careers if they balance the toxic parts of their personality with social skills. Bastian Kückelhaus:“Deception, disguise and deceit are the dark side of social skills.”
