Dark Triad Traits And Career Adaptability ——The Mediation Effect Of Political Skill

Currently,the popularization of digital and automation technologies is profoundly changing people’s way of life and production.Millions of workers need to learn new knowledge,master new skills,reinvent themselves constantly,and some even need to change their careers.According to the Mc Kinsey Global Institute’s report,by 2030,given the size of the Chinese labor market,as many as 220 million Chinese workers could change careers as a result of automation.And China accounts for about 36 percent of global job changes.Workers must maintain their employability subjectively through lifelong learning and adapting to career transition.In this context,we need to pay attention to how individuals cope with career changes,how to make a smooth transition in the career changes and finally realize the relative adaptation to the career.Career adaptability is a kind of social psychological resources that can help individuals to adjust themselves to various career changes.Based on this,this thesis takes career adaptability as the main research topic.In the field of career adaptation,personality is a kind of variable that attracts widespread attention and is considered as a powerful predictor of career adaptation.However,the current attention to personality traits is only limited to those positive,while the negative personality traits are very lack of attention.But negative personalities are not necessarily socially maladaptive,such as the Dark triad traits.In real life,the Dark triad traits have become relatively common personality traits.It has both pro-social and anti-social characteristics,which makes people wary and charming at the same time.In previous studies,there is a significant positive relationship between the Dark triad traits and career success,and the Dark triad traits are even important sources of leadership and personal charisma.The Dark triad traits have higher career adaptability? How do they acquire career adaptability? What implications might their impact on career adaptability have for organizational management?Based on these considerations,this research combined career construction theory and conservation of resource theory,and introduced political skill as a mediator,to examine the influential mechanism of the Dark Triad traits（Machiavellianism,narcissism,and psychopathy）on career adaptability.This study conducted a three-wave survey of Chinese college students（N = 379）,and the results showed that after statistically controlling the impact of sex,the Dark Triad traits had significant impacts on career adaptability.In detail,Machiavellianism and narcissism enhanced career adaptability but psychopathy reduced career adaptability.In addition,political skill mediated the effect of Machiavellianism,narcissism,and psychopathy on career adaptability.The results extended career construction theory by unfolding the influential mechanism of career readiness on career adaptability based on conservation of resources theory.Simultaneously,this study showed the traits of the Dark Triad had both negative and positive effects on career adaptability.Finally,the report concluded with the discussion of practical implications and future perspectives of the research.