Narcissistic individuals exhibit poor recognition memory.

Abstract

Here, we examine face memory among individuals who are self-focused and care little about others' needs: grandiose narcissists. Given narcissistic individuals' excessive self-focus and tendency to disregard the needs of others, they may struggle to recognize faces and their surrounding environment. Indeed, narcissistic individuals demonstrated worse recognition memory than non-narcissistic individuals in recognition memory tests for faces (Studies 1 [N=332] and 2 [N=261]). This difference also occurred for nonsocial stimuli (i.e., objects, houses, cars), suggesting a broad recognition deficit (Study 3A [N=178], 3B [N=203], 3C [N=274]). Narcissistic individuals' excessive self-focus predicted this memory deficit (Study 4 [N=187]). Grandiose narcissism may therefore influence visual recognition memory, highlighting the potential for future research linking personality and cognitive performance.