O’ Captain, my captain: follower and leader narcissism interplay on follower commitment

Those high in narcissism occupy positions of followership in teams at one point or another. These positions of followership conflict with narcissists’ grandiose self-image which may reduce commitment to their team. As such, understanding factors that may attenuate narcissistic followers’ lack of commitment is important, yet underexplored. The present study examined the interplay between leader and follower narcissism to test if leader personality influences narcissistic followers’ commitment. We posit that leaders who share similar levels of narcissism with followers would increase commitment to the team up to a certain point, thereafter commitment would diminish. We analysed combinations of leader-follower narcissism and levels of commitment in two samples (N_Sample1 = 275; N_Sample2 = 282; Combined N = 557). Polynomial regression with response surface analysis results revealed a complex picture of effects. Sample 1 revealed that follower commitment exhibited a linear decrease when both leader and follower narcissism increased. Sample 2 replicated this finding and further demonstrated that the relationship was not only linear but also curvilinear in nature. Specifically, the curvilinear relationship suggested that decreases in follower commitment became more pronounced at moderately high leader and follower narcissism. Additionally, Sample 2 findings indicate that a decrease in leader narcissism together with an increase in follower narcissism was associated with improved follower commitment. However, the presence of a negative curvilinear relationships suggests that this positive relationship diminishes when followers are high in narcissism. This investigation highlights that matching (or mismatching) leaders’ and followers’ narcissism can substantively impact follower commitment.