Too Soft for the Job?

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Abstract

The perception that female personality traits are ill-suited for high-power roles serves to perpetuate the existing underrepresentation of females in many industries, particularly in the executive suite. Recent research points to the idea that “dark” personality traits, frequently associated with the male gender, are necessary for ascent into the highest executive levels of leadership and may also serve to drive vocational interest toward high-power, male-dominated career fields. We provide an exploratory study of gender differences in emotional intelligence, along with narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy scores, known as the “Dark Triad." Male (N = 53) and female (N = 67). The analysis indicated that males, as a group, reported higher narcissism and psychopathy scores. No significant gender differences were found in emotional intelligence or Machiavellianism. No significant effects of Dark Triad personality traits were found based on academic program choice.