Grandiose narcissism linked to weaker brain response to mistakes
Feb 23rd 2026
Two EEG studies of UK undergraduates found that people higher in grandiose narcissism show blunted error-related negativity, a rapid neural signal of mistakes, suggesting a neural route for resisting self-correction.
- Researchers ran two studies using the Eriksen Flanker Task and EEG to measure error-related negativity in UK university students.
- Higher levels of grandiose narcissism were associated with a less negative error-related negativity response to mistakes.
- The blunted response replicated when participants received explicit feedback and was stronger for the admiration facet than the rivalry facet of grandiose narcissism.
- Study 1 analyzed 144 students and Study 2 analyzed 50 students after exclusions for too few errors to record reliable EEG data.
- Authors say reduced early error processing may help narcissistic individuals avoid self-correction and preserve positive self-views.
- The sample was predominantly female and British so results may not generalize to other ages, cultures, or populations, and the paper appears in the Journal of Personality by Robins et al.