Introduction
The Dark Triad is the concept that significantly influences different organizations and their outcomes. Especially important to pay attention to this concept in the workplace. Various strategies can help to deal with the Dark Triad and recommend practical steps. The analysis of the existing literature on the issue will demonstrate the implications of the Dark Triad concept and indicate essential insights for workers and organizations about the possible ways of dealing with this challenging concept. Dark Triad can undermine organizational harmony and productivity, negatively influence team outcomes, and engage people in a counterproductive environment, so preventive strategies are needed to minimize the negative effect of the Dark Triad on the working environment.
Explanation of the Dark Triad Concept
The Dark Triad concept refers to the three negative personality traits that indicate antagonist and anti-social behavior patterns. Dark Triad consists of a trio of negative concepts: psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism. Narcissism is related to negative feelings, such as superiority and adequacy (Frothingham, 2023). People with narcissism can be arrogant, selfish, rude, and sensitive to criticism.
Psychopathy includes anti-social behavior, manipulation, lack of empathy, and impulsivity. People with these features can be prone to take significant risks. Machiavellianism consists of manipulation, self-interest, absence of morality, and lack of emotions (Frothingham, 2023). People with this feature are incredibly manipulative and are willing from others to obtain their wishes. Moreover, their view of the world is cynical.
Exploitative and manipulative attributes characterize the Dark Triad personality. People with this concept are considered heartless, disregard others, and are unhealthy and obsessed with themselves (Frothingham, 2023). These people do not have a moral compass and compassion, which negatively influences their personalities. Hence, dangerous behaviors are seen among people with these features, making the Dark Triad concept an exciting topic to research.
The Influence of the Dark Triad on Workplaces
Dark Triad contributes to the workers’ behavior at the workplace and leads to adverse and inefficient working outcomes. Each organization has its ethical considerations and rules to ensure effective working environments. These regulations are extremely important in the Islamic world to ensure companies’ best outcomes (Chughtai et al.,2020 b).
The presence of the Dark Triad concept can negatively influence not only workers but also organizational results and lead to inefficiency. For example, workplace incivility can mediate the connection between counterproductive work behavior and the Dark Triad concept. Islamic work values are crucial factors in developing the Dark Triad. That is why it is essential to examine the negative role of this concept.
Dark Triad increases harmful behavior, such as egoism and narcissism, negatively influencing the working environment. The stronger the Dark Triad concept the worker has, the more negative working outcomes are produced, so these negative features enable a person to work in a team, which is the core part of each organization’s policy (Chughtai et al.,2020b). Thus, the dark traits that influence the workplace negatively influence people’s ability to work in a team and adore their co-workers, leading to conflicts and an inefficient working environment.
The Influence of the Dark Triad on the UAE Organizations
The UAE organization provides valuable insight and examples of the role of Dark Triad organizations in their success and examines their influence on leaders. In the educational sector, the Dark Triad concept encourages students to use different forbidden methods while studying. For example, students with Dark Triad features are seen to use plagiarism and cheating in their academic works (Curtis et al., 2022).
Another example is the impact of the Dark Triad on the leaders of different organizations in the UAE. Leaders in the UAE are highly valued, and they influence workers’ efficiency and organizational culture by encouraging people to perform excellently. Suppose such leaders experience at least one of the Dark Triad concepts. In that case, their attitude toward organizational values may change, so the leader can become selfish and arrogant, which decreases the level of respect among workers and leads to poor working outcomes. Research has shown that the more negative traits a leader has, the lower the performance rate among workers (Parameswaran & Elsawy, 2022). Therefore, in the UAE educational sector and organization, reducing the Dark Triad concept is essential, as it decreases the effectiveness and productivity of workers and students.
The Impact of the Dark Triad on Organizational Outcomes
The Dark Triad concepts significantly influence counterproductive working behavior, and some of the traits can positively affect workers engagement in a counterproductive environment. People with narcissism have a great sense of self-importance, so they could use counterproductive worker behavior (CWB) to manipulate others to achieve their goals (Pratiwi & Hasanati, 2019). People with psychopathy can engage in CWB because they disregard rules and norms. Machiavellian individuals are focused on self-interest and exploit others (Pratiwi & Hasanati, 2019). All these traits lead to dishonesty, disrespect, and aggression in the workplace.
Cultural Aspect of Dark Triad
If organizations are considered in UAE, the cultural background should be included in the research on the impact of Dark Triad traits on CWB. In the UAE, men are more assertive than women, and men are considered leaders. In this case, if leaders in the UAE experience the Dark Triad trait, negative interpersonal work relationships are seen, and the role of women in the workplace can significantly decrease (Parameswaran & Elsawy, 2022). In addition, employees can be exploited and discouraged from effective working performance. Therefore, the Dark Triad concept significantly impacts counterproductive working behavior by making it inefficient, and in UAE, cultural background dramatically contributes to the outcomes of the Dark Triad.
The Role of Islamic Ethics in Handling Dark Triad at a Workplace
The Dark Triad negatively influences organizational citizenship behavior and workplace incivility, but ethics can mediate these activities in the Islamic world. These traits lead to negative interpersonal behavior, so people with these features are likelier to engage in incivility. Rude and disrespectful behavior in society is observed, and this workplace incivility can create opportunities for the harmful effect of dark traits on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) (Chughtai et al. 2020a).
The article researches the role of Islamic ethics that can attenuate the harmful effect of the Dark Triad traits. Ethical consideration in the Islamic world, especially in the UAE, can be a boundary condition that minimizes the negative impact of dark traits. The research results prove that UAE ethical considerations can reduce the harmful effect of dark traits and moderate them and workplace incivility (Chughtai et al. 2020a). That is why ethical values are extremely important to promote positive organizational behavior and reduce the development and impact of the Dark Triad Concept. Hence, with the help of Islamic ethics, the harmful effect of dark traits on OCB can be decreased.
Influence of Dark Triad on Creativity and Innovation
Dark Triad has a complex impact on creativity and innovation, directly affecting its main components. The Dark Triad hurts the main parts of creativity. Dark traits increase self-confidence, so the person does not listen to others, and creativity skills do not develop. Dark Triad leads to emotional coldness, so a person becomes cold and cannot generate different ideas, as emotions play a crucial role in this process (Lebuda et al., 2021). As a result, the overall creativity rates among organizations where dark traits are seen rapidly decrease due to the inability to see the issue from different points of view. Dark Triad negatively influences innovation by decreasing ways of collaboration and using manipulation to gain self-interest (Fodor et al., 2021). In this case, innovation’s ethical and sustainable aspects can be undermined.
Moreover, people with dark traits can manipulate innovative processes to gain their self-interest. For example, they can implement different tactics to gain essential control over the credits for successful innovation (Fodor et al., 2021). Thus, the Dark Triad undermines creativity and innovation by focusing on self-interest rather than the generally positive outcomes of the process.
Influence of Dark Triad on Teamwork
The Dark Triad can positively and negatively impact the workgroup or team outcomes and processes, so self-confidence and risk-taking can be achieved. Still, trust issues, the ability to work in a team, manipulation, and conflicts can be seen in the workplace. On the one hand, the Dark Triad features increase a person’s self-confidence, so in some situations, individuals with dart traits can become leaders (Sacavém & de Bem Machado, 2023). In addition, people with narcissism can take risks due to their strong belief in power and self-reliance. In these cases, the workgroup process can be positively affected.
On the other hand, the Dark Triad leads to issues in trust, as people with dark traits prioritize their interests rather than team ones, so cooperation and trust can be broken (Sacavém & de Bem Machado, 2023). They try to manipulate others by exploiting others, which can negatively influence team dynamics and lead to a toxic working environment. Lastly, dark traits are related to the high rate of conflict, so destructive behavior can disrupt work in a team. Hence, the negative effect of Dark Triad on workgroup and team outcomes and processes outweighs the positive impact.
Methods to Deal with the Dark Triad Concept
Detection of dark personality traits, improvement of the psychological capital of workers, and understanding the connection between dark characteristics and the overall company’s efficiency can help to deal with the Dark Triad concept at the workplace. Firstly, it is essential to prevent the development of dark personality traits in the workplace. In this case, the role of recruiters is crucial. Recruiters should be able to detect the probable dark traits of the applicants and separate them from the other candidates (Elbers et al., 2023). As a result, the level of workers with the potential ability for dark traits can be reduced, especially for leadership positions.
Secondly, it is crucial to support workers psychological backgrounds. Optimism, hope, and self-efficacy can be developed so that workers can cope with their colleagues with dark traits (Elbers et al., 2023). Lastly, the impact of the Dark Triad concept on the company’s overall efficiency should be explained to the workers so they can understand the importance of coping with this issue. Hence, improving workers psychological backgrounds and detecting applicants with the ability to have dark traits can be used to deal with this concept.
Training
One of the best strategies to cope with the Dark Triad concept is to implement educational and training programs to teach workers to identify and cope with dark traits. In this case, a multidivisional structure of the organization should be developed because this type ensures flexibility and training in strategic views (Abu Dhabi School of Management, n. d.a). Educational programs enhance workers’ ability to reveal dark traits among their colleagues, and the flexibility allows workers to resist dark traits and speak about them to the personnel. Training programs should inform employees about the Dark Triad concept, its impact on workers and overall productivity, and ways of coping with these traits.
The globalization strategy should be used to implement educational programs on the Dark Triad concept in different company subsidiaries, which positively affects the company’s image (Abu Dhabi School of Management, n. d. b). If the company has subsidiaries abroad, it allows it to reduce the negative impact of dark traits on its workers in each organization’s filial. Thus, educational and training programs should be implemented in all company’s fillies to teach workers to reveal and cope with dark traits.
Self-Assessment
Companies can provide workers with a checklist for dealing with a person with dark traits. Firstly, companies should analyze their resources and capabilities to help cope with dark traits and personalities (Abu Dhabi School of Management, n. d. c). Secondly, the checklist should be based on the company’s requirements, but there are general recommendations on how to cope with the issue. For instance, workers cannot change a person with dark traits, so avoiding seeking contact with such a person is better.
Cause Analysis and Prevention
One way to deal with dark traits is to identify the cause of this person’s anger and prevent it. Special supportive groups should be created so workers can speak about their concerns. Lastly, if the worker with a dark triad works in a team, use this concept against him. For example, keep this worker busy and leave no chance to manipulate others (Khan, 2022). The mentioned checklist ensures workers have steps to cope with dark traits, but organizational capabilities and resources should be analyzed to create support groups to cope with the issue.
Strategy Implementation
While implementing different strategies, companies should pay attention to strategic decisions. Firstly, the strategy should be long-term so the issue of dark traits can be effectively solved (Abu Dhabi School of Management, n. d. d). Secondly, the values and expectations of the workers should be considered to provide the most appropriate programs and effectively address the issue (Abu Dhabi School of Management, n. d. d). Lastly, all strategies should be complex in addressing each aspect of the dark traits among workers. Thus, the theoretical and organizational background of the strategy to cope with the Dark Triad concept should be considered.
Conclusion
The Dark Triad concept includes personality features such as psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. This concept hurts organizations and their working environment. The research showed that dark traits negatively influence the ability to be creative and innovative, citizenship behavior, and the ability to work in a team. The main aim of people with dark traits is self-interest, so these people can be manipulative. That is why different strategies, including education and psychological support, can be implemented to help workers cope with the issue and improve a healthy working environment.
References
Abu Dhabi School of Management. (n. d.a). Chapter 14. Organizing and strategy.
Abu Dhabi School of Management. (n. d.b). Chapter 9. International Strategy (Internationalization)
Abu Dhabi School of Management. (n. d.c). Wk 4. Understanding resources and capabilities.
Abu Dhabi School of Management. (n. d.d). Chapter 1. Introducing strategy.
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