I wrote a few years ago about an interesting study that compared the personality traits of\u00a0 successful entrepreneurs and paid managers of large corporations. Recently, however, I came across\u00a0 a\u00a0 study carried out by\u00a0 researchers at Aarhus University that focused on the personality traits of members of\u00a0 organised crime groups in Denmark.<\/p>\n
Although the sample was\u00a0 quite small (53 members),\u00a0 I found\u00a0\u00a0 the\u00a0 findings intriguing.\u00a0 It should be said that\u00a0 the members\u00a0 were not ordinary street fighters, petty crooks or kleptomaniacs, but members of groups with\u00a0 authority in the criminal world.<\/p>\n
This\u00a0 time, too, three Hogan tests were used to map personality traits. The\u00a0 Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) assesses personal\u00a0 strengths, Hogan Development Survey (HDS) personal risks, and\u00a0 Motivations, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI) motivational sources and preferences.\u00a0\u00a0 Today,\u00a0 millions of managers and professionals from\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 very different fields of activity have completed\u00a0 Hogan’s tests\u00a0 in the world, in Estonia we have been able to evaluate both\u00a0 recruitment and manager development programs\u00a0 over a thousand\u00a0 managers, top managers and professionals.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So what\u00a0 were<\/strong> the<\/strong> \u00a0findings, and to what extent do they\u00a0 overlap<\/strong> with<\/strong> \u00a0stereotypical notions from<\/strong> Hollywood mafia movies?<\/strong><\/p>\n First of all, it should be understood that criminal groups offer their members the same benefits as any other collective: social identity, group affiliation,\u00a0 etc.\u00a0 Interestingly, for example, similarities have\u00a0 been found between criminal groups\u00a0 and politically extreme groups.\u00a0\u00a0 Both offer so-called career and\u00a0 self-realization opportunities, meanings and a sense of belonging to a\u00a0\u00a0 certain profile that they may not find anywhere else.\u00a0\u00a0 The test results should be interpreted taking into account the context.<\/p>\n In\u00a0 terms of their motivational sources and\u00a0 values profile (MVPI),\u00a0 the members of the\u00a0 sample were quite similar to middle managers or,\u00a0 for example, venture capitalists, receiving high scores\u00a0 in\u00a0 hedonism, money, power and security\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 scales. To be clear: for them, status, material benefits, pleasures,\u00a0 and\u00a0\u00a0 the\u00a0 certainty and predictability of\u00a0\u00a0 receiving these benefits\u00a0 in the\u00a0 future are\u00a0 important.<\/p>\n Sample members’ personal risk profiles (HDS) highlighted\u00a0 some interesting findings. Hogan suggested that\u00a0 some of the otherwise unproductive qualities in\u00a0 ordinary life can be very productive in the criminal world. The members received high scores on the scale\u00a0 of skepticism, which measures distrust and cynical attitudes towards other people. Surprisingly, high scores\u00a0 also came on the\u00a0 scale of perfectionism, which\u00a0\u00a0 evaluates an orientation to detail and exactingness to the performance of\u00a0 oneself and others.\u00a0\u00a0 Also\u00a0 on the colorful scale, which refers to the desire to\u00a0 stand out from others and to receive the attention and admiration of members.\u00a0\u00a0 As expected, the\u00a0 members of the\u00a0 sample were also\u00a0 characterized by high loyalty to the leader of the group.<\/p>\n The MVPI and HDS scores suggest that\u00a0 the study\u00a0\u00a0 participants seem\u00a0 to have\u00a0 innate expectations of career success, but at the same time have not chosen conventional and accepted options for their realization. This Hogan thought is supported by the\u00a0 rather low scores of the respondents’ HPI test (the scale average remained significantly below 50%). Hogan interprets the situation this way:\u00a0 members of the criminogenic group are alienated from\u00a0 generally accepted social roles and rules,\u00a0\u00a0 while still wanting to partake\u00a0 of the benefits and resources that ordinary professional life allows \u2013 money, power, sensory experiences.\u00a0\u00a0 One of the interesting indicators in the\u00a0 HPI profile was also\u00a0 the\u00a0 low interest of the sample members in education and self-improvement. At\u00a0 the same time, this is\u00a0\u00a0 again one of the prerequisites for succeeding in society.<\/p>\n Finally, Hogan emphasizes that human beings are social animals and\u00a0 that we have\u00a0 three great goals in life:\u00a0 to find meanings and goals\u00a0\u00a0 in life, to be\u00a0 accepted by others, but at the same time to strive for a certain\u00a0\u00a0 towards status\u00a0 and\u00a0 to achieve something in life.\u00a0 People satisfy these needs mainly through various groups: family and friendship groups, organizations, hobby groups, political associations, etc. For many adolescents from poorer social\u00a0 groups,\u00a0 joining criminogenic groups is\u00a0 like a\u00a0 rational choice. However, paradoxically, “career success”\u00a0 in such a combination can\u00a0 require quite similar skills as in some large and successful publicly traded companies.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Since\u00a0 2010<\/em>, Adera Executive<\/em> Search has<\/em> been using Hogan’s tests <\/em>\u00a0in<\/em> leadership evaluation and development. <\/em>\u00a0To date, about 10 million working adults worldwide have\u00a0 taken<\/em> Hogan tests. <\/em>\u00a0How many exciting (and also surprising) discoveries such <\/em>\u00a0a \u00a0global dataset<\/em> has \u00a0offered! <\/em>\u00a0If you are interested in personality psychology<\/em> and would like to receive news on this topic, come and register https:\/\/aderaexecutive.com\/uudised\/ <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n FOCUS is the name\u00a0 under which\u00a0 we gathered the services<\/em>, tools, as well as\u00a0 news, findings<\/em> and discoveries\u00a0 related<\/em> to the \u00a0topic<\/em> of \u00a0evaluation & development<\/em> of \u00a0managers and professionals.\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0We believe<\/em> that\u00a0 comparable, objective and relevant information about candidates is needed to make<\/em> successful eligibility decisions. <\/em>\u00a0The<\/em> right \u00a0person for the right position! <\/em>\u00a0We can <\/em>\u00a0help if you need help evaluating candidates,\u00a0 mapping<\/em> their<\/em> potential or leadership skills.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0Whether\u00a0 it’s making managerial choices<\/em>, promotion decisions,\u00a0 or key employee development programs. With FOCUS,<\/em> everything important is\u00a0 in focus!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently, I came across a study carried out by researchers at Aarhus University that focused on the personality traits of members of organised crime groups in Denmark.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1094,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stc_notifier_status":"sent","_stc_notifier_sent_time":"2022-11-30 12:01:03","_stc_notifier_request":false,"_stc_notifier_prevent":false,"_stc_subscriber_keywords":"","_stc_subscriber_search_areas":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-focus"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n