Date of Conferral

2019

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

James Herndon

Abstract

Arrogance in the workplace is a growing area of interest within industrial-organizational psychology. Arrogant employees tend to lack positive interpersonal work relationships, act superior yet have a lower level of cognitive abilities, and have poorer job performance than their less arrogant counterparts, leading to challenging work relationships and overall impact on an organization's ability to meet its objectives. The present study examined professional arrogance measured by the Workplace Arrogance Scale (WARS), a 26 question survey, in relation to the objective outcome measure of a Financial Investment Advisor's (FIA) ranking on the firm's leader board based on total assets under management plus revenue. A total of 37 participants who have been in the profession for more than 2 years completed the survey. This study employed a quantitative, correlational research design. The research questions were assessed using linear regression and moderation analyses. Analysis of the data showed no significant predictive relationship between results of the WARS and performance. Gender and professional experience did not moderate the relationship between an FIA's arrogance and their performance. While these findings did not support the hypothesis of a connection between a FIA's assessed arrogance and measured performance, arrogance remains an important construct requiring further study. As workplace arrogance is better understood, it can be screened for by human resources within hiring processes and can be addressed directly by leadership through training and development. Decreased arrogance is likely to lead to more respectful client relationships, leading to customer loyalty and increased revenues for the client, FIA and the financial firm that he/she serves.

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