Narcissism in Public Accounting Firms

Abstract

Similar to other characteristics, narcissism is a personality trait that varies by individuals.  While the management literature has examined narcissism, there is limited research of narcissism of professionals in public accounting firms. Using the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), we assess the level of narcissism in practitioners of public accounting firms by examining differences by gender, age, practice area and position.  We also compare our results with a prior study that examined narcissism of accounting majors.  Our findings show there are differences between accounting students and accounting professionals for certain traits and gender. We also find there are differences for professionals by age, practice area and position for certain traits. Implications for practice are discussed.