Science: Narcissists Are More Likely to Nail Job Interviews

The next time you have to go for a job interview, brag until you can't brag anymore. Then make sure you act as egotistical as possible. That might sound like odd advice, but according to a study, heeding it will likely land you the job.

The study, titled Self-Presentation Style in Job Interviews: The Role of Personality and Culture, was led by researchers at the University of British Columbia. Professor Del Paulhus, the lead author of the report, wanted to find out what types of people were hired for jobs, and if certain personality traits and clothing styles impacted the hiring process. To figure this out, Paulhus' team first created a series of questions regarding narcissism. The team used a common test — the narcissistic personality inventory questionnaire — as a template.

The team then spent time videotaping the participants — half of whom were of Asian heritage— in a mock job interview. Paulhus had expert and non-expert interviewers grill the 72 people and then rate which they felt were the best for the job. Those who tested low on the narcissistic scale (almost all the Japanese, Chinese and Korean participants) were less likely to be rated as a “definitely hire” by the interviewers.

"People from Western cultures seem to be more predisposed to telling how good they are, while people from more modest cultures like East Asia seem to be very uncomfortable," Paulhus explained to The Huffington Post. "They were raised to feel uncomfortable by bragging."

Paulhus said that people who brag about themselves do well in job interviews because it helps to show that you can do the job. “They are very comfortable with self-promoting, and the job application situation is one where you really do have to self-promote," Paulhus told Phys.org. "It’s all about focusing on your positive assets, and that’s what interviewers want to know. What are your good points? People who are natural self-promoters are going to have an advantage and modest people will be at a disadvantage."

The flip side of this study was that while people who brag get hired, people from places like China and Korea may be facing cultural bias' when interviewing. "Interviewers should look beyond cultural style and assess individual qualifications," Paulhus suggested. "Instead of superficial charm, interviewers must analyze candidates' potential long-term fit in the organization."

While it's clear that you should be doing a little bragging during the interview, you might want to stop after you get the job. There have been studies that show in the long term, people don't like working with narcissistic colleagues, for fairly obvious reasons. So keep your bragging confined to the interview room.

[Image via Flickr - bpusf]