Flying Monkeys in a Corporate Environment: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

A common practice prevalent among narcissists is the usage of minions referred to as “flying monkeys”. These proxies generally act as substitutes for the narcissist, especially when it comes to questionable activities such as harassing or abusing others (targets of the narcissist in question). Given that people with narcissistic tendencies are attracted to organizations with a fixed hierarchal structure like corporate workspaces, it is a noted fact that such environments maintain a disproportionate number of narcissists in positions of power. A major disadvantage of such a social corporate system would be the rampant prevalence of flying monkeys and the narcissists they report to. It should be noted that this creates a toxic working environment and should be something that should be addressed by employers.