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Seth M. Spain Ph.D.

About

Seth Spain holds a Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and is an assistant professor of organizational behavior and human resources at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University in Montreal. He studies personality and other individual differences, leader development, and behavior at work. He is especially interested in the contrast of the bright side (positive) and dark side (negative) aspects of each of these topics. He is a card carrying statistician who enjoys mathematical and computational models.

Recent Posts
What Would Optimus Prime Do?
Leaders of the Autobots and Decepticons are used to illustrate how schemas about leadership concepts are influenced by popular media. Understanding these schemas can help educate people about leadership and followership. Knowing the answer to "What would Optimus Prime Do?" could help leaders be more selfless and effective.
How Narcissists Fail

Narcissists tend to self-enhance and capture other people's attention, which can help them succeed, usually in the short term. Over time, their behaviors are off-putting to acquaintances, and usually lead them to be perceived negatively.

Narcissists tend to self-enhance and capture other people's attention, which can help them succeed, usually in the short term. Over time, their behaviors are off-putting to acquaintances, and usually lead them to be perceived negatively.

Healthy Self-Esteem versus Healthy Narcissism

Response to a comment about yesterday's post, which tries to clear the air about where the "sub-clinical" version of narcissism I discussed fits into a conception of healthy self-esteem versus pathological narcissism.

Response to a comment about yesterday's post, which tries to clear the air about where the "sub-clinical" version of narcissism I discussed fits into a conception of healthy self-esteem versus pathological narcissism.

Why You May End Up Working for a Narcissist

Narcissists can get ahead at work, maybe even beyond their actual contributions. How do they do it? What behavior strategies contribute to it? I describe some of the mechanisms we believe contribute to narcissists' corporate climbing effectiveness.

Narcissists can get ahead at work, maybe even beyond their actual contributions. How do they do it? What behavior strategies contribute to it? I describe some of the mechanisms we believe contribute to narcissists' corporate climbing effectiveness.

The Pros and Cons of Having a Dark Side

The dark side of personality consists of a variety of sometimes beneficial, sometimes harmful characteristics.

The dark side of personality consists of a variety of sometimes beneficial, sometimes harmful characteristics.