A promotion does not always have to come with a bigger salary to feel rewarding. For some employees, being given a prestigious designation, having an impressive title on their business card or being recognised as someone important at work may hold considerable appeal. While a salary increase offers a tangible financial benefit, a job title can offer something different: visibility, status and a sense of recognition.A new study of US workers suggests that employees who have stronger narcissistic tendencies may be particularly attracted to this kind of workplace recognition. They may even be willing to put in more effort for a prestigious job title than for a private pay increase. However, the findings also reveal that most employees continue to prefer the financial reward.The research, published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, examined how personality traits influence the kind of rewards employees find motivating. The researchers conducted four main studies and three additional replications, involving a combined sample of 1,069 full-time employees in the US.
What the researchers found
In the first study, 249 employees were asked to identify public and private rewards offered at their workplaces and rate how motivating they found them. Private rewards, such as salary increases and one-on-one praise from a supervisor, received an average motivation score of 5.63 out of seven. Public rewards, such as recognition in front of colleagues, received a lower average score of 4.43.However, the researchers noticed an important difference. Employees who scored higher on narcissistic traits were more motivated by public recognition than those with lower scores. Their motivation for private rewards, meanwhile, was broadly similar across the personality spectrum.The second study, involving 244 employees, tested this preference using specific workplace incentives, including a 10% year-end bonus, a promotion and a special lunch. Participants were asked whether they would prefer to receive these rewards privately or publicly.The overall preference again leaned towards privacy. However, employees with stronger narcissistic traits consistently showed a greater preference for public recognition across six of the seven reward scenarios.
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Why do some employees prefer public recognition?
The researchers explored two possible explanations: the desire for social status and concern about making colleagues envious.People with stronger narcissistic tendencies may place greater importance on how others perceive them. Public recognition gives them an opportunity to stand out, receive admiration and establish a sense of importance among their peers.The study’s author, Emily M. Zitek, an associate professor of organisational behaviour at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, explained to PsyPost that the research brought together two areas of interest: workplace narcissism and the growing practice of title inflation.The researchers also examined whether employees with stronger narcissistic traits were less concerned about making their colleagues envious when they received public rewards. Their analysis found that both a stronger desire for social status and lower concern about triggering envy were associated with a greater preference for public recognition. However, the researchers cautioned that this analysis could not establish these factors as the definite reasons behind the preference.
Would employees choose an impressive title over a higher salary?
This was perhaps the most interesting part of the research.In the fourth study, 282 full-time employees were asked to choose between two hypothetical job offers. Both required them to work harder, but the rewards were different.One offer came with a prestigious new job title that would impress friends and family, but no increase in salary. The other offered a higher salary that people outside the workplace would not know about, while the employee retained their existing designation.Importantly, both jobs offered exactly the same level of authority, influence and number of direct reports. This ensured that participants were choosing between status and money rather than between two different levels of professional responsibility.The findings showed that most employees preferred the higher-paying position. On a seven-point scale, where one represented a preference for the salary increase and seven represented a preference for the prestigious title, the average response was 1.72.Employees were also considerably more willing to work harder for a pay increase alone, scoring 6.17 out of seven, than for a prestigious title alone, which scored 2.79.However, employees with higher narcissism scores were more likely to choose the prestigious designation over the private financial benefit. They were also more willing to put in additional effort simply to receive a title upgrade.The researchers measured two dimensions of grandiose narcissism: narcissistic admiration, which involves self-promotion and seeking admiration, and narcissistic rivalry, which involves a more competitive and antagonistic approach towards others. Both were associated with a stronger preference for prestigious titles.
What does this mean for workplaces?
The findings raise questions about a workplace practice known as title inflation. This refers to giving employees impressive-sounding designations without necessarily increasing their salary, authority or actual responsibilities.For organisations, such titles may appear to be an inexpensive way of rewarding employees or encouraging them to take on more work. However, the study suggests that this strategy may not motivate everyone equally.In an interview with PsyPost, study author Zitek said that employees generally preferred receiving praise in a one-on-one meeting rather than in front of their colleagues. Those with stronger narcissistic traits, however, were more attracted to public rewards. She also cautioned employers against assuming that impressive designations would motivate their entire workforce.The researchers concluded that title inflation may disproportionately appeal to employees with higher narcissistic tendencies rather than serving as an effective universal motivation strategy.
An important distinction: Narcissistic traits do not mean a clinical diagnosis
The researchers also highlighted some limitations. The study measured grandiose narcissism as a personality trait. It did not diagnose participants with narcissistic personality disorder.Additionally, much of the research involved surveys and hypothetical workplace choices. Therefore, the findings cannot establish that employees would necessarily behave in the same way when faced with actual job offers or workplace rewards.The study also involved full-time employees in the US, so the findings may not apply equally across different workplace cultures and countries.Ultimately, the research suggests that while a prestigious designation may be particularly attractive to employees who crave admiration and social status, most workers continue to place a higher value on a reward that directly improves their financial position.