{"id":3541,"date":"2025-03-31T20:18:34","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T20:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=3541"},"modified":"2025-07-09T15:11:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T15:11:26","slug":"the-privileged-background-narcissism-link","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\/","title":{"rendered":"The Privileged Background-Narcissism Link"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/author\/daniel-butcher\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniel Butcher<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Many privileged people may view the world through a self-serving and self-aggrandizing lens, which can get in the way of them reaching their full potential as leaders. That said, professionals from privileged backgrounds might be able to unlock better leadership and communication skills by acknowledging and mitigating those narcissistic tendencies.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s according to Academy of Management Scholar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/sean-martin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sean Martin of the University of Virginia<\/a>, who said that <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.aom.org\/doi\/10.5465\/amj.2015.0680#:~:text=The%20behaviors%20inculcated%20by%20higher,likely%20to%20crystallize%20over%20time.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">research that he did with St\u00e9phane C\u00f4t\u00e9 of the University of Toronto and Colonel Todd Woodruff of the West Point Military Academy<\/a> found that the parental income of teenage applicants to West Point was predictive of how narcissistic they\u2019d become as adults.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat that led to was them engaging in less of what we consider to be very useful leadership behaviors: building good relationships, clearly structuring the work, and creating good context for communication,\u201d Martin said. \u201cOn the other hand, people who come from lower-class backgrounds might actually be able to be good at doing those things that we consider to be very good leadership behaviors, because they might possess less of the self-focus that comes with narcissism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have to be very clear that the way that we measure is not a psychoanalyst diagnosing someone on a couch as a narcissist, but rather it\u2019s indicating greater agreement with statements that indicate you think fairly highly of yourself,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople from a lower-class background might have a tendency to get out of your own head, whereas narcissists view things through the lens of how everything affects them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstead, having to climb the ladder from a lower social class makes those professionals more likely to view things through the lens of how things affect their team, their community, the people around them, and maybe that leads them to be more likely to engage in desirable leadership behaviors.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Daniel Butcher Many privileged people may view the world through a self-serving and self-aggrandizing lens, which can get in the way of them reaching their full potential as leaders. That said, professionals from privileged backgrounds might be able to unlock better leadership and communication skills by acknowledging and mitigating those narcissistic tendencies. That\u2019s according [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,71,19,44],"tags":[],"sp_smart_badges":[],"ppma_author":[70],"class_list":["post-3541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behavior","category-communicating","category-leadership","category-motivation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Privileged Background-Narcissism Link - Academy of Management Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Daniel Butcher\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Daniel Butcher\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c\"},\"headline\":\"The Privileged Background-Narcissism Link\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-31T20:18:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-09T15:11:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":316,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/rich-kid.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"BEHAVIOR\",\"COMMUNICATING\",\"LEADERSHIP\",\"MOTIVATION\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Privileged Background-Narcissism Link - 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Previously, he was a writer and the Finance Editor for Strategic Finance magazine and Management Accounting Quarterly, a scholarly journal, at the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). Prior to that, he worked as a writer\\\/editor at The Financial Times, including daily FT sister publications Ignites and FundFire, as well as Crain Communications\u2019s InvestmentNews and Crain\u2019s Wealth, eFinancialCareers, and Arizent\u2019s Financial Planning, Re:Invent|Wealth, On Wall Street, Bank Investment Consultant, and Money Management Executive. He earned his bachelor\u2019s degree, Cum Laude, from the University of Colorado Boulder and his master\u2019s degree from New York University. You can reach him at dbutcher@aom.org or via LinkedIn.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/danielbutcher\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/author\\\/daniel-butcher\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Privileged Background-Narcissism Link - Academy of Management Today","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Daniel Butcher","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\/"},"author":{"name":"Daniel Butcher","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c"},"headline":"The Privileged Background-Narcissism Link","datePublished":"2025-03-31T20:18:34+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-09T15:11:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\/"},"wordCount":316,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rich-kid.webp","articleSection":["BEHAVIOR","COMMUNICATING","LEADERSHIP","MOTIVATION"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\/","name":"The Privileged Background-Narcissism Link - Academy of Management Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rich-kid.webp","datePublished":"2025-03-31T20:18:34+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-09T15:11:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rich-kid.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rich-kid.webp","width":1080,"height":720,"caption":"Source: Shutterstock"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-privileged-background-narcissism-link\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Privileged Background-Narcissism Link"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/","name":"Academy of Management Today","description":"Smarter, faster business news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c","name":"Daniel Butcher","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/085e55dd8b6bc186c84fe76ed72735ec1ce8396dff19755de507fb86659a8d08?s=96&d=mm&r=g559188980b254e0e0624aacb72ebc733","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/085e55dd8b6bc186c84fe76ed72735ec1ce8396dff19755de507fb86659a8d08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/085e55dd8b6bc186c84fe76ed72735ec1ce8396dff19755de507fb86659a8d08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Daniel Butcher"},"description":"Daniel Butcher is a writer and the Managing Editor of AOM Today at the Academy of Management (AOM). Previously, he was a writer and the Finance Editor for Strategic Finance magazine and Management Accounting Quarterly, a scholarly journal, at the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). Prior to that, he worked as a writer\/editor at The Financial Times, including daily FT sister publications Ignites and FundFire, as well as Crain Communications\u2019s InvestmentNews and Crain\u2019s Wealth, eFinancialCareers, and Arizent\u2019s Financial Planning, Re:Invent|Wealth, On Wall Street, Bank Investment Consultant, and Money Management Executive. He earned his bachelor\u2019s degree, Cum Laude, from the University of Colorado Boulder and his master\u2019s degree from New York University. You can reach him at dbutcher@aom.org or via LinkedIn.","sameAs":["https:\/\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/danielbutcher\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/author\/daniel-butcher\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":70,"user_id":4,"is_guest":0,"slug":"daniel-butcher","display_name":"Daniel Butcher","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/DanButcher_Academy-of-Management.webp","url2x":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/DanButcher_Academy-of-Management.webp"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rich-kid.webp",1080,720,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rich-kid.webp",1080,720,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rich-kid.webp",1080,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rich-kid-150x150.webp",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rich-kid-300x200.webp",300,200,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rich-kid-1024x683.webp",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rich-kid.webp",1080,720,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rich-kid.webp",1080,720,false],"owl_elementor_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rich-kid-600x400.webp",600,400,true],"owl_elementor_team":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rich-kid-350x450.webp",350,450,true],"owl_elementor_testimonial":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rich-kid-100x100.webp",100,100,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Daniel Butcher","author_link":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/author\/daniel-butcher\/"},"rttpg_comment":1,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/behavior\/\" rel=\"category tag\">BEHAVIOR<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/communicating\/\" rel=\"category tag\">COMMUNICATING<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/leadership\/\" rel=\"category tag\">LEADERSHIP<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/motivation\/\" rel=\"category tag\">MOTIVATION<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"By Daniel Butcher Many privileged people may view the world through a self-serving and self-aggrandizing lens, which can get in the way of them reaching their full potential as leaders. That said, professionals from privileged backgrounds might be able to unlock better leadership and communication skills by acknowledging and mitigating those narcissistic tendencies. That\u2019s according&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3541"},{"taxonomy":"sp_smart_badges","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sp_smart_badges?post=3541"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=3541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}