Hiding your dark side: Anticipatory impression management of communal traits

Job applicants and employees will often engage in impression management tactics to enhance or positively influence perceptions their abilities or workplace contributions. However, the primary emphasis of impression management research has been on tactics such as ingratiation and self-promotion. Less research has focused on managing communal impressions or looking more cooperative than one actually is. Among three popularly studied traits associated with non-communal orientations (i.e., the Dark Triad; Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism), Machiavellianism is the most theoretically aligned trait to engage in impression management. In Study 1, participants were asked to fill out a Dark Triad assessment as they would for an ideal job, non-ideal job, or honestly. In Study 2, participants filled out similar assessments as they would for an ideal cooperative or an ideal competitive job. Across both studies, Machiavellianism was the only trait to show sensitivity to context and report increased communal values when a job was perceived as valuable or cooperative. Implications of this research support the occupational screening of Dark Triad traits in the workforce and which type of individual would be most likely to manage impressions on such screenings.