Understanding the Performance Effects of "Dark" Salesperson Traits: Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy.

This article investigates the impact of the "dark triad" personality traits—Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy—on salesperson performance, emphasizing temporal dynamics and social network structures as key contextual factors. A longitudinal study of insurance salespeople reveals that narcissism and psychopathy are associated with initially higher but ultimately declining performance, whereas Machiavellianism correlates with slower initial growth followed by sustained long-term performance gains. A second study using social network analysis in a direct sales organization finds that the efficiency of information flow within a salesperson's network (reach efficiency) moderates these effects: high reach efficiency diminishes the performance of narcissists and psychopaths by facilitating quicker detection of their behaviors, but enhances Machiavellians' performance by enabling strategic social manipulation. The findings suggest that dark triad traits can predict sales outcomes comparably to positive traits, with implications for hiring, managing, and monitoring sales personnel within organizational social contexts.