This research challenges the consensus that perceiving better leader treatment motivates prosocial behaviors, showing that it can lead individuals with a desire to dominate to undermine their teammates. The study suggests that employees high in trait dominance, representing a desire to control others, are especially prone to hubristic pride and social undermining when perceiving better leader treatment. The findings shift the conversation on work team dynamics, cautioning supervisors about the negative consequences of preferential leader treatment based on employees' dominance characteristics.