Employers and recruiting firms often use terms like “ambitious,” “thinks outside the box,” “communicates persuasively,” and “thinks strategically” in job postings to attract high-performing self-starters.

However, a study from the University of Maryland found that these appealing keywords tend to attract “rule benders” rather than “rule followers,” disproportionately drawing in narcissistic applicants. Other research has shown that such employees are more likely to engage in unethical or fraudulent behavior.

“There’s a lot of advice out there on how to avoid hiring narcissists, but recruiters might not realize that these terms attract such candidates,” the researchers explain.

Bending the rules

The study focused on the accounting field, where narcissists and rule benders can have the most immediate negative impact.

“We found that narcissists are more attracted to rule-bender language in job postings, both for general jobs and accounting positions,” the authors explain. “We also found that professional recruiters are more likely to use rule-bender language in job postings for innovative, high-growth companies, and for companies that might benefit from manipulating their earnings.”

To conduct the study, the authors tested online participants (college graduates recruited through a research crowdsourcing platform) for their level of narcissism, then checked if they were more attracted to jobs described with rule-bender terms. They did a similar study with experienced accounting managers and also examined why professional recruiters use such language.

“The findings suggest that even before anyone clicks ‘apply,’ the language in a job posting might be too tempting for narcissists to ignore, increasing the chances of attracting unethical applicants,” the authors conclude.

“But a key takeaway is that ‘rule-bender’ language enters job postings both intentionally and unintentionally, resulting in a larger percentage of narcissists in the applicant pool.”