Journal Article

Decoding the Narcissistic Brain

Robins, Esther M., Angus, Douglas J., Sedikides, Constantine, Zhou, Zhiwei, Huang, Chengli, Kelley, Nicholas J.

2025

Overview

•Less than 1 % of empirical articles on narcissism have addressed its neural basis.•We decoded various forms of narcissism from spontaneous neural oscillations.•Distinct neural oscillatory patterns for agentic versus communal narcissism.•Distinct neural oscillatory patterns for admirative versus rivalrous narcissism.•Vulnerable narcissism negatively related to fast and slow wave frequency bands. There is a substantial knowledge gap in the narcissism literature: <1 % of the nearly 12,000 articles on narcissism have addressed its neural basis. To help fill this gap, we asked whether the multifacetedness of narcissism could be decoded from spontaneous neural oscillations. We attempted to do so by applying a machine learning approach (multivariate pattern analysis) to the resting-state EEG data of 162 participants who also completed a comprehensive battery of narcissism scales assessing agentic, admirative, rivalrous, communal, and vulnerable forms. Consistent with the agency-communion model of narcissism, agentic and communal forms of grandiose narcissism were reflected in distinct, non-overlapping patterns of spontaneous neural oscillations. Furthermore, consistent with a narcissistic admiration and rivalry concept model of narcissism, we observed largely non-overlapping patterns of spontaneous neural oscillations for admirative and rivalrous forms of narcissism. Vulnerable narcissism was negatively associated with power across fast and slow wave frequency bands. Taken together, the results suggest that the diverse forms of narcissism can be reliably predicted from spontaneous neural oscillations. The findings contribute to the burgeoning field of personality neuroscience.

• Publisher: Elsevier Inc,Elsevier Limited,Elsevier
• Subject: Admirative and rivalrous narcissism / Adolescent / Adult / Behavior / Brain - physiology / Brain oscillation / Communal narcissism / EEG / Electroencephalography - methods / Estrogens / Female / Grandiose narcissism / Humans / Machine Learning / Magnetic resonance imaging / Male / Multivariate pattern analysis / Narcissism / Nervous system / Neurosciences / Oscillations / Personality / Personality traits / Self esteem / Testosterone / Young Adult