Science, narcissism and the quest for visibility

The roles of latent perfectionism classes in academicians' tendencies toward workaholism, useless superiority effort and narcissism

Although previous research has identified that perfectionism is associated with both narcissism and workaholism, research into the specific roles of potential perfectionism classes in these personality dynamics is currently unavailable. Furthermore, no study has investigated if the "useless superiority effort" dimension of inferiority feelings, which indicates an increased need for superiority over others potentially to overcome self-perceived inferiorities, is related to other important personality dynamics. This study was therefore conducted to identify if potential perfectionism classes that exist among academicians (N = 317) can simultaneously explain significant differences in their tendencies toward workaholism, narcissism, and useless superiority effort, after controlling for potential social desirability effect. A latent class analysis of two dimensions of perfectionism (discrepancy and high standards) revealed four distinct classes of academicians; non-perfectionists (NONPs; 20%), maladaptive perfectionists (MPs; 17%), normal perfectionists (NPs; 44%) and adaptive perfectionists (APs; 19%). Further analysis (MANCOVA) showed that while MPs have the highest tendencies toward workaholism and useless superiority effort, NONPs have the lowest tendencies toward these. Moreover, APs reported significantly lower useless superiority than NPs, despite scoring similarly on both narcissism and workaholism. Additionally, based on workaholism being related to narcissism, high standards and discrepancy dimensions of perfectionism, as well as useless superiority effort, while weekly work hours are not, it can be suggested that workaholism is qualitatively different from working long hours.

Self-promotion and the need to be first in science

Scientists, like all humans, are subject to self-deceptive valuations of their importance and profile. Vainglorious practice is annoying but mostly harmless when restricted to an individual’s perception of self-worth. Language that can be associated with self-promotion and aggrandizement is destructive when incorporated into scientific writing. So too is any practice that oversells the novelty of research or fails to provide sufficient scholarship on the uniqueness of results. We evaluated whether such tendencies have been increasing over time by assessing the frequencies of articles claiming to be “the first”, and those that placed the requirement for scholarship on readers by using phrases such as “to the best of our knowledge”. Our survey of titles and abstracts of 176 journals in ecology and environmental biology revealed that the frequencies of both practices increased linearly over the past half century. We thus warn readers, journal editors, and granting agencies to use caution when assessing the claimed novelty of research contributions. A system-wide reform toward more cooperative science that values humility, and abhors hubris, might help to rectify the problem.

Career success in the University setting: Examining the role of narcissism facets

The purpose of this research is to examine the association of narcissism facets with subjective and objective career success, as well as the impact of the professional field. Data from 282 employees of a German university – both scientists and administrative staff – who completed an online survey were analysed. Results showed a significant negative relationship between vulnerable narcissism and career success. The associations of the grandiose narcissism subfacets: grandiose exhibitionism and entitlement/exploitativeness, as well as vulnerable narcissism with subjective career success were affected by professional field. However, leadership/authority, the remaining subfacet of grandiose narcissism, was not associated with career success.

Golden Age of Medicine 2.0: Lifestyle Medicine and Planetary Health Prioritized

The 'golden age of medicine' - the first half of the 20th century, reaching its zenith with Jonas Salk's 1955 polio vaccine - was a time of profound advances in surgical techniques, immunization, drug discovery, and the control of infectious disease; however, when the burden of disease shifted to lifestyle-driven, chronic, non-communicable diseases, the golden era slipped away. Although modifiable lifestyle practices now account for some 80% of premature mortality, medicine remains loathe to embrace lifestyle interventions as medicine Here, we argue that a 21st century golden age of medicine can be realized; the path to this era requires a transformation of medical school recruitment and training in ways that prioritize a broad view of lifestyle medicine. Moving beyond the basic principles of modifiable lifestyle practices as therapeutic interventions, each person/community should be viewed as a biological manifestation of accumulated experiences (and choices) made within the dynamic social, political, economic and cultural ecosystems that comprise their total life history. This requires an understanding that powerful forces operate within these ecosystems; marketing and neoliberal forces push an exclusive 'personal responsibility' view of health - blaming the individual, and deflecting from the large-scale influences that maintain health inequalities and threaten planetary health. The latter term denotes the interconnections between the sustainable vitality of person and place at all scales. We emphasize that barriers to planetary health and the clinical application of lifestyle medicine - including authoritarianism and social dominance orientation - are maintaining an unhealthy status quo.

Preventive Medicine for Person, Place, and Planet: Revisiting the Concept of High-Level Wellness in the Planetary Health Paradigm

Experts in preventive medicine and public health have long-since recognized that health is more than the absence of disease, and that each person in the ‘waiting room’ and beyond manifests the social/political/economic ecosystems that are part of their total lived experience. The term planetary health—denoting the interconnections between the health of person and place at all scales—emerged from the environmental and preventive health movements of the 1970–1980s. Roused by the 2015 Lancet Commission on Planetary Health report, the term has more recently penetrated mainstream academic and medical discourse. Here, we discuss the relevance of planetary health in the era of personalized medicine, gross environmental concerns, and a crisis of non-communicable diseases. We frame our discourse around high-level wellness—a concept of vitality defined by Halbert L. Dunn (1896–1975); high-level wellness was defined as an integrated method of functioning which is oriented toward maximizing the potential of individuals within the total lived environment. Dunn maintained that high-level wellness is also applicable to organizations, communities, nations, and humankind as a whole—stating further that global high-level wellness is a product of the vitality and sustainability of the Earth’s natural systems. He called for a universal philosophy of living. Researchers and healthcare providers who focus on lifestyle and environmental aspects of health—and understand barriers such as authoritarianism and social dominance orientation—are fundamental to maintaining trans-generational vitality at scales of person, place, and planet.

Dark Pathways to Achievement in Science: Researchers’ Achievement Goals Predict Engagement in Questionable Research Practices

Questionable research practices (QRPs) are a strongly debated topic in the scientific community. Hypotheses about the relationship between individual differences and QRPs are plentiful but have rarely been empirically tested. Here, we investigate whether researchers’ personal motivation (expressed by achievement goals) is associated with self-reported engagement in QRPs within a sample of 217 psychology researchers. Appearance approach goals (striving for skill demonstration) positively predicted engagement in QRPs, while learning approach goals (striving for skill development) were a negative predictor. These effects remained stable when also considering Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy in a latent multiple regression model. Additional moderation analyses revealed that the more researchers favored publishing over scientific rigor, the stronger the association between appearance approach goals and engagement in QRPs. The findings deliver first insights into the nature of the relationship between personal motivation and scientific malpractice.

Mentor-mentee relationship in clinical microbiology

BACKGROUND

Clinical microbiology is a field in constant evolution, with increasing technological opportunities and a growing emphasis on human and social issues. Maintaining knowledge and skills and anticipating future changes is challenging both for laboratory managers and for all the co-workers. Training and succession preparation represents a unique opportunity to adapt/prepare future generations according to the evolutions of the field.

AIMS

The aim of this review is to provide to clinical microbiologists a reflection on ongoing technological and social changes in their field and a deepening of the central role of preparing future generations to these changes through a fruitful mentor-mentee relationship.

SOURCES

This narrative review relies on selected publications addressing mentor-mentee interactions in various academic fields, on interview with our colleagues and pairs, as well as on our personal experience.

CONTENT

From the qualities and aspects that emerged as necessary for a productive mentor-mentee interaction, we selected and discuss five of them for the mentor: the role and responsibility, the positioning, the vision, the scientific credibility, and the moral credibility, as well as five for the mentee: creativity, flexibility, energy, responsibility, and self evaluation.

IMPLICATIONS

This review emphasizes the importance of both the scientific and the ethical credibility of the mentor and the mentee as well as the importance of human and social values such as solidarity, equality, equity, respectfulness, and empathy, and might support mentor and mentee in the field of clinical microbiology and also in the field of infectious disease in their intent for a fruitful interaction.