Dark triad and situational variables and their relationship to career success and counterproductive work behaviors among employees in Turkey

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between dark triad personality (DTP) and organizational and individual counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) and perceived career success among employees in Turkey. Additionally, the study examined the effects of four situational variables: perceived organizational politics, transparency, psychological contract breach, and accountability. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 156 employees across five service organizations in Sakarya, Turkey, using the survey method. Findings The regression analysis findings showed that the three traits of the DTP, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy were significantly related to both organizational and interpersonal dimensions of the CWB. Narcissism was not related to any of the dimensions of CWB. The findings showed no significant relationship between any of the four situational variables and the two forms of CWB. However, three of the situational variables were related to perceived career success, while the three dimensions of DTP were not. Research limitations/implications The main limitations of this study are its cross-sectional design and the self-reported measures of the dependent variables. Interestingly, the study showed that having high levels of DTP does not necessarily promote their careers. Originality/value This study contributes to examining career success as a dependent variable in addition to CWB. The findings showed that situational variables are related to career success, and DTP is related to CWB. This finding has both conceptual and practical implications.