Business Education and Narcissism: An Investigation on Turkish Universities

Muhammed Bilgehan Aytaç

EN TR

Business Education and Narcissism: An Investigation on Turkish Universities

Abstract

In this study, the effect of business education on business students’ narcissism level was investigated. Literature indicates that narcissism has been increasing since the 1970s and business students are more narcissistic than those studying in other disciplines. This research asked a simple question: are business students becoming more narcissistic as they are experienced in business schools? To seek a clue for the answer to the research question, a quantitative study was designed, and business students' narcissism levels were analyzed based on their grades, individualistic motivation in studying business, GPAs, demographics, and based on their future career choices among business departments (e.g., marketing, finance, HRM). Two hundred sixty-four business students from different Turkish universities participated into study. Findings mainly illustrated that there is no significant relationship between business students' narcissism level and their grades (years). However, there is a significant relationship between their narcissism level and their agentic motivation to pursue a degree in business. Further age was negatively related to narcissism and family income was a positive predictor of narcissism. Students who expressed their willingness to pursue a career in R&D or Accounting after graduation were found to have less narcissistic tendencies. Students who are willing to work in the General Management and Marketing department have the highest narcissism scores. In summary, when the findings are evaluated together with the literature, this study implies that business education does not make individuals more narcissistic; rather, individuals with narcissistic traits are more inclined to study business.

Keywords

İşletme Eğitimi ve Narsisizm: Türk Üniversiteleri Üzerine bir Sorgulama

Öz

Bu çalışmada, işletme eğitiminin işletme öğrencilerinin narsisizm seviyesi üzerindeki etkisi incelenmiştir. Literatür, narsisizmin 1970'lerden bu yana arttığını ve işletme öğrencilerinin diğer disiplinlerde okuyanlara göre daha narsistik olduğunu göstermektedir. Bu araştırmada basit bir soru sorulmuştur; işletme öğrencileri, işletme okullarında deneyim kazandıkça daha mı narsistik hale geliyorlar? Bu sorunun cevabı için bir ipucu aramak amacıyla nicel bir çalışma tasarlanmış ve işletme öğrencilerinin narsisizm seviyeleri, sınıfları (sene), işletme okumaya yönelik bireysel motivasyonları, not ortalamaları, demografik özellikleri ve gelecekteki kariyer seçimleri (örneğin; pazarlama, finans, insan kaynakları yönetimi) bağlamında analiz edilmiştir. Çalışmaya farklı Türk üniversitelerinden iki yüz altmış dört işletme öğrencisi katılmıştır. Bulgular, işletme öğrencilerinin narsisizm seviyesi ile notları arasında anlamlı bir ilişki olmadığını göstermektedir. Ancak, narsisizm seviyeleri ile işletme bölümünü tercih etmedeki bireysel motivasyonları arasında anlamlı bir ilişki bulunmaktadır. Ayrıca, yaş ile narsisizm arasında negatif bir ilişki ve aile geliri ile narsisizm arasında pozitif bir ilişki tespit edilmiştir. Araştırma-Geliştirme (AR-GE) ve Muhasebe alanında kariyer yapmak istediğini belirten öğrencilerin daha az narsistik eğilimlere sahip olduğu bulunmuştur. Genel Yönetim ve Pazarlama departmanında çalışmak isteyen öğrencilerin ise en yüksek narsisizm puanlarına sahip olduğu görülmüştür. Özetle, bulguları literatürle birlikte değerlendirdiğimizde, bu çalışma işletme eğitiminin bireyleri daha narsist yaptığına değil, narsist özelliklere sahip bireylerin işletme okumaya daha eğilimli olduğuna ima etmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Ethical Statement

My research was approved by the Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University Institute of Ethics of Social and Human Sciences on March 19, 2019.

Thanks

I thank all students who provided data.

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Marketing (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Muhammed Bilgehan Aytaç ^*
0000-0002-2351-0893
Türkiye

Publication Date

December 28, 2024

Submission Date

October 20, 2024

Acceptance Date

December 2, 2024

Published in Issue

Year 2024 Volume: 2 Number: 1

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA63XR29YC

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Aytaç, M. B. (2024). Business Education and Narcissism: An Investigation on Turkish Universities. Aksaray Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Meslek Yüksekokulu Dergisi, 2(1), 59-78. https://izlik.org/JA63XR29YC