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Cited by 66Personality Traits and PsychologyPersonality Disorders and PsychopathologyPsychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research

Can neuroscience help to understand narcissism? A systematic review of an emerging field

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Jauk, Emanuel, Kanske, Philipp·2021·Personality Neuroscience
DOI 10.1017/pen.2021.1PMC PMC8170532
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Abstract

Narcissism is a Janusian personality construct, associated with both grandiose self-assuredness and dominance, as well as vulnerable insecurity and reactivity. Central questions of intra- and interpersonal functioning in narcissism are still a matter of debate. Neuroscience could help to understand the paradoxical patterns of experience and behavior beyond the limitations of self-reports. We provide a systematic review of 34 neuroscience studies on grandiose, vulnerable, pathological narcissism, and Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), spanning experimental investigations of intra- and interpersonal mechanisms, research on neurophysiological and neuroendocrine aspects of baseline function, and brain structural correlates. While neuroscience has scarcely directly studied vulnerable narcissism, grandiose narcissism is associated with heightened vigilance to ego threat and stress responses following ego threat, as well as heightened stress indicators in baseline measures. Such responses are not commonly observed in self-reports, highlighting the potential of neuroscience to augment our understanding of self-regulatory dynamics in narcissism. Interpersonal functioning is characterized by deficits in social–affective processes. Both involve altered activity within the salience network, pointing to a double dissociation regarding the expression of narcissism and self/other oriented situational focus. Findings are summarized in an integrative model providing testable hypotheses for future research along with methodological recommendations.

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  • Individuals with high narcissistic traits exhibit reduced grey matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

    “Neuroimaging studies indicate that individuals with high narcissistic traits exhibit reduced grey matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dPFC) - regions critical for self-awareness, emotion regulation, and social cognition (58, 95).”

    From Psychoanalytically informed MDMA-assisted therapy for pathological narcissism: a novel theoretical approach (2025) · cites this paper as [95]

    The Structural imaging studies section reports lower gray matter volume in the medial prefrontal/anterior cingulate region in patients with narcissistic personality disorder, and lower dorsolateral prefrontal cortical volume associated with pathological narcissism in a nonclinical sample (page numbers unavailable). The claim combines findings from different populations and treats cortical volume as gray matter volume, so it overstates what the review establishes for individuals with high narcissistic traits generally. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • Both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism share (overtly or covertly expressed) attitudes of being special and entitled to special treatment.

    “Despite their seemingly contrasting presentations, both share (overtly or covertly expressed) attitudes of being special and entitled to special treatment [37, 51].”

    From “It’s not you, it’s me”: identity disturbance as the main contributor to interpersonal problems in pathological narcissism (2023) · cites this paper as [37]

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Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. American Psychiatric Association. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). American Psychiatric Association.
  2. George, F. R., & Short, D. (2018). The cognitive neuroscience of narcissism. Journal of Brain, Behavior and Cognitive Sciences, 1, ID 6.
  3. Honeycutt, J. M., Pence, M. E., & Gearhart, C. G. (2014). Associations between narcissism, empathy, personality, and imagined interactions. In A. Besser (Ed.), Psychology of emotions, motivations and actions. Handbook of the psychology of narcissism: Diverse perspectives. (pp. 333– 346). Hauppauge: Nova Science Publ.
  4. Krusemark, E. A. (2009). Neural correlates of self-enhancement in narcissism: An electroencephalography investigation. Unpublished doctoral dissertation.
  5. Valk, S. L., Hoffstaedter, F., Camilleri, J. A., Kochunov, P., Thomas Yeo, B. T., & Eickhoff, S. B. (2019). Does macroscale grey matter anatomy reflect personality? BioRxiv. 10.1101/645945 · DOI

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Authors
Jauk, E., & Kanske, P.
Affiliations
  • University of Graz (AT)
  • Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (DE)
Corresponding author
Jauk, Emanuel
ORCID
Venue
Personality Neuroscience
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2021
Volume
4
Pages
e3-e3
ISSN
2513-9886 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1017/pen.2021.1
PMC
PMC8170532
OpenAlex
W3172723981
Cited by
66
References
201
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 3
FWCI
1.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Personality Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
Keywords
narcissism, grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism, pathological narcissism, narcissistic personality disorder, stress response, self-regulation, salience network, interpersonal functioning, self-other orientation

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