For obvious reasons, narcissism is generally considered a bad character trait and a particularly annoying one to work with. Narcissists steal your thunder, require constant ego massaging and steam roll those that disagree with them, but does having a couple of them on your team also increase your group’s creativity?

Recent psychological research suggests this counter-intuitive finding might be correct (though the verdict is still very much out on how many of us will eagerly sign up to work with ego maniacs). According to the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest blog, Jack Goncalo of Cornell University has just published results from three experiments which “show that when it comes to group creativity, the competitiveness of multiple narcissists really is beneficial, so long as you don’t have too many of them.”

How did the scientists reach this conclusion? More than 200 undergraduates were given standard evaluations of their narcissism and creativity and then asked to come up with pitches for a new Hollywood movie. Objective raters didn’t conclude that the narcissists’ pitches were more creative when they worked independently (though the narcissists’ self-confidence did improve the reception to their ideas when they were pitched in person.) But when the study participants developed their ideas in four-person groups, those teams with two narcissists performed best. Why?

Goncalo’s team think that the presence of two narcissists generates a healthy dose of in-group competition, thus helping idea generation. However too many narcissists in the proverbial kitchen and the excessive internal competition spoils the creative broth. “The same needs for recognition and power that cast a dark shadow on narcissists may position them as catalysts for creative colloquy,” the researchers said.

Of course working with narcissistic jerks also takes a toll on a team as their self-centered antics can cause stress and they may bully more introverted employees into silence. But does this study convince you that sometimes working with narcissists might just be worth the hassle?

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