The daily interplay of workplace experiences, narcissism dimensions, and employee behaviours

Background: Traditional views of narcissism in industrial and organisational psychology often paint a static and unidimensional picture of this personality trait. This study adopts a within?person perspective and a trifurcated model of narcissism—admiration, rivalry, and vulnerability—to explore how narcissistic states might differ in relation to daily workplace experiences and how these changes relate to workplace behaviours.

Objectives: The research aimed to examine how ego-relevant workplace experiences, such as recognition and incivility, relate to states of narcissistic admiration, rivalry, and vulnerability, and how these states impact behaviours including helping, incivility, and knowledge hiding.

Methods: Data were collected from 129 full-time employees using a daily diary method over 10 workdays, resulting in 1,593 observations. Participants reported on their workplace experiences (recognition, incivility, and justice), narcissistic states, and subsequent workplace behaviours. Multilevel structural equation modelling was used to analyse within-person fluctuations, with a focus on 1-1-1 mediation models to assess the relationships between experiences, narcissistic states, and behaviours.

Results: Recognition events were positively associated with narcissistic admiration, which was linked to helping behaviours. Narcissistic rivalry was associated with perceived incivility and related to enacted incivility. Vulnerable narcissism showed a connection with knowledge hiding, particularly when linked with interpersonal justice experiences.

Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between different narcissistic states in workplace settings, as these states influence distinct behaviours. Implications for practice and future research are discussed in the thesis.