Skip to main content

A Macropsychology Perspective on Personality: How Personality Factors Influence Society and Vice Versa

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Macropsychology
  • 445 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter describes both the bright and dark sides of personality and how people with particular profiles can have an impact on others, through their work or public office. The fate of whole organisations and institutions may be closely related to the profile of the leader. The chapter describes in detail the Big Five personality traits as well as the 11 personality disorders. It then illustrates the power of personality by examining the literature on the relationship between personality and work success. Finally, there is an acknowledgement that work and political experiences shape personality, as well as the other way around.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Barrick, M. R., Mount, M. K., & Judge, T. A. (2001). Personality and performance at the beginning of the new millennium: What do we know and where do we go next? International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 9, 9–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benson, M., & Campbell, J. (2007). To be, or not to be, linear: An expanded representation of personality and its relationship to leadership performance. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 15, 232–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boudreau, J., Boswell, W., & Judge, T. (2001). Effects of personality on executive success in the United States and Europe. Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 58, 53–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carson, M., Shanock, L., Heggestad, E., Andrew, A., Pugh, S., & Walter, M. (2012). The relationship between dysfunctional interpersonal tendencies, derailment potential behavior and turnover. Journal of Business and Psychology, 27, 291–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Converse, P. D., Piccone, K. A., & Tocci, M. C. (2014). Childhood self-control, adolescent behavior, and career success. Personality and Individual Differences, 59, 65–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, M. (2004). Prediction of transformational leadership by personality constructs for senior Australian organizational executive leaders. Unpublished dissertation, Griffith University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dilchert, S., & Ones, D. (2008). Personality and extrinsic career success. Zeitschrift für Personalpsychologie, 7, 1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dotlich, D., & Cairo, P. (2003). Why CEOs fail. New York, NY: Jossey Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furnham, A. (2008). Personality and intelligence at work. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Furnham, A. (2014). Bullies and backstabbers. London: Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furnham, A. (2018) Personality and Occupational Success. In Virgil Zeigler-Hill & Todd K. Shackelford (Eds). The SAGE Handbook of Personality and Individual Differences. New York: Sage, 537–551.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furnham, A., & Heaven, P. (1999). Personality and social behaviour. London: Arnold.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gelissen, J., & de Graaf, P. (2006). Personality, social background, and occupational career success. Social Science Research, 35, 702–726.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirschi, A., & Jaensch, V. K. (2015). Narcissism and career success: Occupational self-efficacy and career engagement as mediators. Personality and Individual Differences, 77, 205–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hogan, R., & Hogan, J. (1997). Hogan development survey manual. Tulsa, OK: Hogan Assessment Systems.

    Google Scholar 

  • Judge, T., & LePine, J. (2007). The bright and dark sides of personality. In J. Langan-Fox, C. Cooper, & R. Klimoski (Eds.), Research companion to the dysfunctional workplace (pp. 332–355). Cheltenham: Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Judge, T. A., Higgins, C. A., Thoresen, C. J., & Barrick, M. R. (1999). The big five personality traits, general mental ability, and career success across the life span. Personnel Psychology, 52(3), 621–652.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Judge, T. A., Piccolo, R. F., & Kosalka, T. (2009). The bright and dark sides of leader traits: A review and theoretical extension of the leader trait paradigm. Leadership Quarterly, 20(6), 855–875.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khoo, H., & Burch, G. (2008). The ‘dark side’ of leadership personality and transformational leadership. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 86–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacLachlan, M. (2014). Macropsychology, policy and Global Health. American Psychologist, 69, 851–863.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacLachlan, M., Mannan, H., Huss, T., & Scholl, M. (2019). Macropsychology: Challenging and changing social structures and systems. In D. Hoggets & K. O’Doherty (Eds.), Handbook of applied social psychology (pp. 116–182). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, L. (2008). From difficult to disturbed. New York, NY: Amacom.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moscoso, S. & Salgado, J. (2004) ‘Dark side’ personality styles as predictors of task, contextual, and job performance. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 12(4), 356–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moutafi, J., Furnham, A., & Paltiel, L. (2004).Why is conscientiousness negatively correlated with intelligence? Personality and Individual Differences, 37, 1013 –1022.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nettle, D. (2005). An evolutionary approach to the extraversion continuum. Evolution and Human Behaviour, 26, 363–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nettle, D. (2006). The evolution of personality variation in humans and other animals. American Psychologist, 61, 622–631.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ng, T., Eby, L., Sorensen, K., & Feldman, D. (2005). Predictors of objective and subjective career success: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 58, 367–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oldham, J., & Morris, L. (1991). Personality self-portrait. New York, NY: Bantam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owen, D. (2009a). Hubris Syndrome. Brain, 132, 1396–1406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Owen, D. (2009b). In sickness and in power. London: Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palaiou, K., & Furnham, A. (2014). Are bosses unique? Personality facet differences between CEOs and staff in five work sectors. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 66, 173–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seibert, S. E., Kraimer, M. L., & Liden, R. C. (2001). A social capital theory of career success. Academy of Management Journal, 44(2), 219–237.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tett, R. P., Jackson, D. N., & Rothstein, M. (1991). Personality measures as predictors of job performance: A meta-analytic review. Personnel Psychology, 44(4), 703–742.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wille, B., De Fruyt, F., & Feys, M. (2013).Vocational interests and Big Five traits as predictors of job instability. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 76, 547–558.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winsborough, D. L., & Sambath, V. (2013). Not like us: An investigation into the personalities of New Zealand CEOs. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 65, 87–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adrian Furnham .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Furnham, A. (2021). A Macropsychology Perspective on Personality: How Personality Factors Influence Society and Vice Versa. In: MacLachlan, M., McVeigh, J. (eds) Macropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50176-1_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics