It's not likely to win you any popularity contests, but it seems being selfish at work can be good for your career.
New research has found that those with more selfless, kind personalities were the most well-liked, but were simultaneously seen as less attractive candidates for leadership and were overlooked for promotion.
It found that aggression implied strength, while altruistic tendencies were perceived as a sign of weakness.
The study, from the Kellogg School of Management, Stanford Graduate School of Business and Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, aimed to discover the personality types we associate with leadership.
In a series of three experiments, participants were placed into groups. Researchers then analysed their behaviour as they managed tokens representing money; how some chose to keep them, and others contributed them to a group pool.
The results showed that those with the kinder personalities were the most popular in the groups, but they were also considered weak or gullible.
Those with more dominant and aggressive behaviour were seen as 'alpha' personalities.
Co-author Robert Livingston, of the Kellogg School, told Today.com: 'As humans we are wired to respond to dominance.'
He explained: 'Being selfish makes you seem more dominant and being dominant makes you seem more attractive as a leader, especially when there’s competition.
'On a subconscious level this is the conclusion people are coming to: Kindness equals weakness.'
Dr Livingston believes that this tendency to associate aggression with leadership' is an explanation on why we get corruption.
'People who are more likely to be moral, kind and pro-social are least likely to be elected to these leadership roles,' he said.
'That increases the likelihood of corruption and malfeasance because we’ve got the wrong people in positions of leadership.'
自私自利也许不能让你受到众人的欢迎，但在职场中似乎自私一些对你的事业发展有好处。
新研究发现，那些比较无私、和善的人是最受大家喜欢的，但同时也被认为是不太适合做领导的人，并在晋升时被忽略。
研究发现，侵略意味着有力量，而利他倾向则被理解为软弱。
凯洛格商学院、斯坦福商学院和卡内基美隆大学泰珀商学院联合开展的这一研究旨在发现和领导力有关的人格类型。
在三个系列实验中，参与者被分到几个组。研究人员让他们管理象征金钱的代币，然后分析他们的行为。有些人选择自己保管代币，有些人将其拿出来作为集体资金。
研究结果显示，那些性格更和善的人在小组中是的，但是他们也被视为软弱或容易受骗。
那些支配欲强、行为更具进攻性的人被认为具有“阿尔法个性”。
该研究报告的合著者、凯洛格商学院的罗伯特•利文斯顿告诉今日网说：“作为人类，我们天生倾向于服从支配。”
他解释说：“自私让你看起来更具主导性，作为一名这会让你显得更有魅力，特别是在存在竞争时。
“从潜意识层面上来看人们通常会得出这一结论：和善等于软弱。”
利文斯顿博士认为，人们倾向于将进攻性和领导力联系在一起，这可以解释为什么会出现贪污腐败。
他说：“那些品行更好、更和善、更多地为他人着想的人最不可能被选为领导。
“这使腐败和渎职的几率增加了，因为我们选错了领导人。”

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