Narcissism and career success: Occupational self-efficacy and career engagement as mediators

• Explored how and why narcissism is related to two indicators of career success.
• Found a weak relationship between narcissism and salary and career satisfaction.
• Occupational self-efficacy mediated effects on salary and career satisfaction.
• Career engagement mediated effects on career satisfaction but not on salary.

Narcissism is a personality trait that has potentially important effects on career development outcomes, yet empirical research on this issue is sparse. The present study explored the relationships between narcissism and two indicators of career success (i.e., salary and career satisfaction) among a group of young professionals (N = 314). We assessed a model proposing that the effect of narcissism on career success is mediated by increased occupational self-efficacy beliefs and career engagement. While correlations between narcissism and the two indicators of career success were minimal, the results showed a significant indirect effect on salary via occupational self-efficacy and indirect effects on career satisfaction via self-efficacy and career engagement. We discuss the results regarding insights into why narcissism may lead to career success.