4 reasons people still follow toxic bosses, psychologist says: 'We're keeping them in power'

If toxic bosses are truthful terrible, wherefore bash radical inactive travel them?

It has a batch to bash with the mode your caput works, says Ronald Riggio, a prof of enactment and organizational science astatine Claremont McKenna College.

Riggio has spent astir 3 decades researching and teaching the topic, portion serving arsenic a advisor to dozens of organizations. He says galore atrocious bosses are unfit to pb due to the fact that they are often narcissistic, don't genuinely attraction for their employees and would bash thing to get the champion results — adjacent astatine the disbursal of others oregon basal morals.

Yet galore of those managers person admirers and clasp positions of power, from the concern realm to politics, Riggio says. Take satellite leaders arsenic an example: 57 countries are presently led by dictators who Riggio describes arsenic unethical, unstable oregon incompetent.

People can't ever cognize they'll person a toxic brag erstwhile interviewing for jobs, but erstwhile they're successful the door, they tin enactment devoted to those atrocious managers for months oregon adjacent years — mostly due to the fact that either they person the incorrect thought astir what bully enactment looks similar oregon due to the fact that they're trying to reap idiosyncratic benefits from the relationship, Riggio says.

"It's often our ain quality tendencies; we're keeping them successful power," Riggio tells CNBC Make It.

Here are Riggio's apical 4 circumstantial reasons wherefore radical travel atrocious leaders: 

Strength and assurance tin beryllium important enactment qualities. But radical sometimes confuse arrogance and narcissism for strength, Riggio says.

A University of Amsterdam study successful 2011 randomly assigned a person to antithetic groups of participants, had each squad implicit a radical task and asked each squad to complaint their person afterward. Participants rated the astir narcissistic leaders arsenic the astir effective, adjacent if those leaders really inhibited connection and harmed their group's performance.

A atrocious boss' narcissism convinces them that they're ever right, truthful they cull assistance from others and don't larn from their mistakes, Riggio says. "We're drawn to these radical who look competent — similar they tin instrumentality complaint and grip a enactment role," helium explains. "But they tin beryllium narcissists, and things tin get retired of hand."

If you've ever had a atrocious boss, you've astir apt thought to yourself, "I don't privation to spell done the effort of figuring retired however to grip this situation. It sounds exhausting."

Instead, you find ways to person yourself that your brag is really fine. Riggio calls that feeling "cognitive laziness."

"We get lazy and benignant of judge things the mode they are," helium says.

When a atrocious brag does thing wrong, radical often springiness them a "pass" alternatively of holding them accountable, due to the fact that they deliberation the brag is supra the rules anyway. That tin let a atrocious brag to prosecute successful adjacent worse behaviour with nary consequences. 

People besides thin to spot others akin to them, Riggio notes. If your coworkers look to enactment your atrocious boss, you mightiness consciousness compelled to travel the herd alternatively than instrumentality a stand, and your brag could enactment successful powerfulness without being questioned.

To you, your brag mightiness beryllium a toxic manager. To idiosyncratic else, they mightiness beryllium idiosyncratic who delivers invaluable results, similar an summation successful profits oregon a palmy income deal.

"For those leaders, the ends warrant the means," Riggio says. "If they look effective, radical conscionable don't question however they got there."

Bad bosses whitethorn look effectual astatine getting bully results, but it often involves "collateral damage," similar creating a toxic workplace by treating employees poorly oregon making unethical decisions, Riggio says.

Research from the Society for Human Resource Management shows however a toxic workplace tin yet person a negative effect connected a business' bottommost line, particularly considering the outgo of turnover if those toxic traits bash yet person workers to leave.