Drawing on impression management theory, we develop and test a dual-path model to unpack both the self-enrichment and self-defense mechanisms of narcissistic employees, captured by the consciousness of desire to gain face and fear of losing face, through which employee narcissism (i.e., admiration and rivalry) affects helping behavior and unethical pro-job behavior. We further identify employee perceived supportive leadership as a critical moderator that can strengthen the effects in the helping path and buffer against unethical conduct. In a scenario experiment (Study 1) and a three-wave survey study (Study 2), our results support that narcissistic admiration satisfies helping behavior via the consciousness of desire to gain face. In parallel, narcissistic rivalry facilitates unethical pro-job behavior via the consciousness of fear of losing face. In addition, when employees perceive leaders exhibit more supportive behaviors, employees with narcissistic admiration tend to have a stronger desire to gain face and are thus more likely to engage in helping behaviors. Meanwhile, supportive leadership can also mitigate the fear of losing face among narcissistic employees, thus reducing their unethical pro-job behaviors. Overall, our research contributes to a fine-grained understanding of the paradoxical effects of narcissism and sheds light on how to facilitate narcissist employees in helping others, rather than serving themselves.
