TY - JOUR

T1 - The dark triad and corporate sustainability

T2 - An empirical analysis of personality traits of sustainability managers

AU - Pelster, Matthias

AU - Schaltegger, Stefan

N1 - The authors are grateful for the helpful comments and suggestions from Dima Jamali (the editor), Marco Bellucci (the associate editor), two anonymous referees, Jacob Hörisch, and Ilka Weissbrod. Open access funding enabled and organized by ProjektDEAL. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2022/1/1

Y1 - 2022/1/1

N2 - Middle managers responsible for sustainability operationalize top management decisions on the organization's social and environmental activities. With their focus on sustainability, they could be expected to consider ethical issues particularly well in their decisions and to possess ethical personality traits. While earlier research has focused on top management this paper examines the influence of personality traits of middle managers on their corporate sustainability preferences. Based on a primary survey sample of 204 professionals responsible for sustainability in their company, we study the relationship between dark triad personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) of sustainability managers and their environmental and social responsibility preferences. The analysis shows that managers who score higher on the dark triad personality scale are less concerned about environmental and social responsibility issues. The business environment, analyzed in a cross-cultural comparison between the United States and Europe, and the organizational context function as a moderator of the influence of personality traits on sustainability preferences. The results suggest that dark triad personality traits should be considered in recruitment and assessment processes of middle managers responsible for corporate sustainability.

AB - Middle managers responsible for sustainability operationalize top management decisions on the organization's social and environmental activities. With their focus on sustainability, they could be expected to consider ethical issues particularly well in their decisions and to possess ethical personality traits. While earlier research has focused on top management this paper examines the influence of personality traits of middle managers on their corporate sustainability preferences. Based on a primary survey sample of 204 professionals responsible for sustainability in their company, we study the relationship between dark triad personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) of sustainability managers and their environmental and social responsibility preferences. The analysis shows that managers who score higher on the dark triad personality scale are less concerned about environmental and social responsibility issues. The business environment, analyzed in a cross-cultural comparison between the United States and Europe, and the organizational context function as a moderator of the influence of personality traits on sustainability preferences. The results suggest that dark triad personality traits should be considered in recruitment and assessment processes of middle managers responsible for corporate sustainability.

KW - corporate sustainability

KW - environmental and social responsibility

KW - individuals

KW - managers

KW - personality traits

KW - sustainability preferences

KW - corporate sustainability

KW - environmental and social responsibility

KW - ndividuals

KW - managers

KW - personality traits

KW - sustainability preferences

KW - Sustainability sciences, Management & Economics

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85116887549&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/15118c04-1918-3d59-a116-610bd8a28fe2/

U2 - 10.1111/beer.12398

DO - 10.1111/beer.12398

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85116887549

VL - 31

SP - 80

EP - 99

JO - Business Ethics, Environment and Responsibility

JF - Business Ethics, Environment and Responsibility

SN - 2694-6416

IS - 1

ER -