This is because the traits that make narcissists so difficult to hang out with or date - including a constant need for validation, a willingness to control people, a ruthlessness in getting their needs met - happen to make them super effective at rising up the ranks.
To help you figure out if you (or perhaps your boss) are a narcissist, we combed through the psychology literature looking for patterns of narcissistic behavior.
Here's what we found:
You enjoy leading others and telling them what to do.
Narcissists typically enjoy leadership positions since they are able to dominate others and fulfill their need for constant positive reinforcement.
You are an entertainer.
"A narcissist monk would not be good, but to be Kanye West and a narcissist is fantastic," said University of Western Sydney psychologist Peter Jonason, an expert on social psychology.
You hate having to feel emotions.
The "very fact of having a feeling in the presence of another person suggests you can be touched emotionally by friends, family, partners, and even the occasional tragedy or failure," says Harvard Medical School psychologist Craig Malkin.
That's why narcissists abhor them.
Feeling an emotion "challenges their sense of perfect autonomy," he continues. "To admit to a feeling of any kind suggests they can be affected by someone or something outside of them."
As a result, narcissists tend to change the topic of conversation when feelings come up - especially their own.
You are likely young and male.
After 34,653 face-to-face interviews, psychologist Frederick Stinson found that men tend to be more narcissistic than women across their lifespans.
Narcissism is believed to peak during adolescence and decline with age.
You are regarded as attractive and dress better than other people.
Narcissists are generally rated as more stylish and physically attractive, according to a study conducted by Simine Vazire, a psychologist at Washington University.
You really like to swear at people.
Psychologists Nicholas Holtzman and Michael Strube from Washington University in St. Louis found in a study that subjects who scored higher in narcissism are argumentative and curse more than their modest counterparts.
They also tend to use more sexually explicit language.
Instead of listening, you just wait to speak.
Anita Vangelisti, a psychologist at the University of Texas in Austin found that narcissists typically prefer to keep the conversation centered around themselves "making exaggerated hand movements, talking loudly, and showing disinterest by 'glazing over' when others speak."
You cheat in relationships.
Psychologists Joshua Foster at the University of South Alabama and W. Keith Campbell at the University of Georgia found that narcissists are more likely to cheat once they think their partners are committed.
They also seem to get a rush out of convincing others to engage in promiscuous sexual acts that they normally do not participate in.
People dump you after you've been dating for about four months.
Through his research, Campbell found that the four-month mark - the apparent satisfaction peak in any dating relationship - is typically how long it takes for someone dating a narcissist to see their true colors.
You put some people on pedestals.
Malkin says the logic goes like this: "If I find someone perfect to be close to, maybe some of their perfection will rub off on me, and I'll become perfect by association." With that ideal in mind, narcissists cozy up to people they find perfect - be it a colleague or a crush - and then get really disappointed when that person isn't as impeccable as they imagined.
Because for a narcissist, everything has to be perfect.
You like to put other people down.
Narcissistic people intentionally put down others in order to maintain a high positive image of themselves.
"Seeking admiration is like a drug for narcissists," said Mitja D. Back, a psychologist at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. "In the long run it becomes difficult because others won't applaud them, so they always have to search for new acquaintances from whom they get the next fix."
This also explains why narcissists typically maintain only weak relationships.
Your parents ignored and adored you.
According to Sigmund Freud, a combination of parental rejection and excessive admiration is more strongly linked to adult narcissism than if one childhood experience consistently existed without the other.
The inconsistency and whiplash of the parent's attitude towards their children will eventually cause for a "deep craving for admiration" and lead the narcissistic to lead a life searching for fleeting ego boosts.
You choose your friends to look cool or take advantage of people.
Narcissistic men and women have different ways of choosing friends.
Women choose male friends with high social status so they can feel a sense of worthiness. Dudes choose bros who can "wingman" for them when they're trying to pick up girls.
If you're not grandiose, then you're introverted, hypersensitive, defensive, and anxious.
Psychologists talk about the "two faces of narcissism." On one end there's the hyper-aggressive, super-loud Donald Trump type. But there's a softer form of narcissism, too. It's called "covert narcissism," which is denoted by introversion, hypersensitivity, defensiveness, and anxiety.
"Both shades of narcissism shared a common core of conceit, arrogance, and the tendency to give in to one's own needs and disregard others," Scientific American reports.
You always have to be in control.
Just as narcissists hate to talk about their feelings, "they can't stand to be at the mercy of other people's preferences," Malkin says. "It reminds them that they aren't invulnerable or completely independent - that, in fact, they might have to ask for what they want - and even worse, people may not feel like meeting the request."
This is why they can be controlling without getting angry. In the case of romantic relationships, narcissists control people with disapproving glances, calls to change plans, and chronic lateness. This allows narcissists to undermine other people's ability to make choices. By doing that, narcissists maintain their sense of total autonomy - which they so desperately need.