Do I win, does the company win, or do we both win? Moderate traits of the Dark Triad and profit maximization

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the relationship between the maximization of personal and company gains and the moderate traits of the Dark Triad. The relevance of choosing this topic lies in investigating the attitude of executives who exhibit characteristics of a moderate intensity between the strong and weak traits. It is proven that the vision and charisma of narcissistic individuals, the strategy and tactics of Machiavellian individuals, and the creativity and good strategic thinking of psychopathic individuals are differentiating characteristics that enhance successful and integrative leadership and that are far from the more accentuated and opportunistic attitudes related to the strong traits, whose practices involve dishonest actions for personal gain. This evidence creates the possibility for strengthening the research in the accounting area, especially on the behavioral approach, in order to promote its interface with psychology and clarify how personality, values, and experiences influence managers’ choices when conducting business and how workers and companies are impacted by these decisions. The study is empirical-theoretical and involves 263 managers, adopting a survey as its data collection strategy and applying a self-reporting type questionnaire. The data analysis approaches included descriptive statistics, correlations, tests of means, and logistic regressions. In this study, managers with moderate psychopathic traits showed a lower tendency to maximize profit by manipulating results. An opposite tendency was revealed for those with moderate Machiavellian traits. The combined effect of the three Dark Triad traits was significant and positive, revealing opportunistic profit maximization. These findings contribute to future studies that aim to systematically analyze moderate levels of the triad and corroborate the findings that have revealed the common characteristics of manipulation, callousness, and dishonesty when investigating the interactive effect between the traits in question.

摘要 本文剖析了个人与企业收益最大化与黑暗三人格（Dark Triad）中等强度特质之间的关联。本选题的研究价值在于，探究展现出介于强弱特质间中等强度特征的高管的行为态度。现有研究表明，自恋型（narcissistic）个体的远见与魅力、马基雅维利型（Machiavellian）个体的战略战术、精神病态型（psychopathic）个体的创造力与卓越战略思维，均为差异化特质，可助力实现成功且整合型的领导效能，且此类特质迥异于与高强度特质相关的极端机会主义态度——后者的行为模式包含为谋取私利而实施的不诚信举动。上述结论为会计学领域，尤其是行为会计方向的研究拓展提供了可能，旨在推动会计学与心理学的学科交叉融合，并阐明人格、价值观与过往经历如何影响管理者的商业决策，以及这些决策又会如何作用于员工与企业。本研究属于实证-理论结合型研究，共纳入263名管理者，采用问卷调查作为数据收集策略，并使用自我报告式问卷开展调研。数据分析方法涵盖描述性统计、相关性分析、均值检验以及逻辑回归分析。本研究发现，具备中等强度精神病态特质的管理者，通过操纵经营成果以实现利润最大化的倾向更低；而具备中等强度马基雅维利特质的管理者则呈现出相反倾向。三项黑暗三人格特质的联合效应呈现显著正向性，表现为机会主义式的利润最大化行为。上述研究结论可为未来旨在系统性分析三人格中等强度水平的相关研究提供参考，并验证了此前在探究所涉特质间交互效应时所揭示的操纵、冷酷与不诚信等共性特征的相关研究结果。