Detecting Narcissistic Grandiosity in a Job Interview: The Validation of the Narcissism Interview Scale for Employment

Abstract

Although employee selection is typically oriented toward the assessment of knowledge, skills, and abilities to identify employees who will complement such an environment, it is perhaps equally important to distinguish employees with the potential to disrupt it. Workers high in narcissistic grandiosity tend to abuse their power and control for personal gain, engage in abusive behaviors toward others, and disobey organizational policies. Across four studies, we sought to develop the Narcissism Interview Scale for Employment (NISE) to assess narcissistic grandiosity. Study 1 created interview questions that elicited responses with narcissistic grandiosity content, structured as both behavioral/situational and work-specific. Study 2 identified the best performing items and developed rating materials. Study 3 demonstrated the NISE is associated with traditional survey assessments of narcissistic grandiosity and predicted interpersonal aggression. Study 4 demonstrated that applicants are likely to perceive the NISE at least as favorably as other popular interview questions. Overall, the results showed that the NISE may be incorporated into the interview process to assess applicant narcissistic grandiosity tendencies, but additional research is needed to further establish the construct validity of the instrument, clarify applicant reactions to its use, and assess its predictive utility across a variety of work contexts.