When The Boss Feels Inadequate By Nathanael J. Fast And Serena Chen

When a person that holds power has their authority questioned, they respond either with confidence or insecurity. An authority figure is expected to hold their ground and not lash out under pressure. Does one's confidence build or break down when being questioned by a person with less authority? Nathanael J. Fast and Serena Chen, authors of “When the Boss Feels Inadequate” argue that people who don't feel competent become aggressive when it comes to their ego. In the article, Fast and Chen supply the reader with four studies demonstrating aggression within authority. Fast and Chen claim that an authoritative figure in the workplace who tends to be more insecure in their leadership, often leans towards aggressive behavior when challenged. Before

Baumeister, Brad J. Bushman, and W. Keith Campbell. Baumeister focuses on hostility held by someone with and without authority. The authors break down the difference between narcissism and aggressive behavior and how it can be perceived by one another. At first glance it seems that Baumeister claims that low self-esteem does not cause aggression, but after evaluating further, it is clear that they believe that aggression arises most when one's ego is challenged. We see this idea often in the movie A Few Good Men. Lieutenant Daniel Espresso is challenged to defend Private First Class Louden Downey and Lance Corporal Harold Dawson with the murder of PFC William Santiago. Downey and Dawson were simply following orders from Colonel Nathan R.

He states, “Narcissism has also been linked empirically to high but unstable self-esteem.”. Earlier, Coffee offended Jessup by not addressing him as “Colonel”. He quickly establishes his rank and demands that Café address him in a professional manner (A Few Good Men, 2:02:07). Baumeister would imply that Jessup loses his composure because café diminishes Jessup's reputation. Baumeister states, “Aggression is thus a means of defending a highly favorable view of self against someone who seeks (even unwittingly) to deflate it.” Contrary to Fast and Chen's deepening the idea that what initiates aggression is egos being diminished, “...low-power participants were more aggressive when primed with competence than primed with incompetence.”. Coffee has a very high ego with little power, and Jessup holds a lot of power with a very high ego. When Espresso visibly sees Jessup's confidence being crushed, Espresso obtains a sense of pride, making him display aggressive behavior towards her character. Jessup's rank in the military validates his self-perception of being a strong figure not to be