Study links CEO narcissism to resistance to remote work
Researchers say leaders with higher narcissism scores were more likely to oppose remote and hybrid work and favor office mandates.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
3 min read
A new study by Wharton organizational psychologist Adam Grant and co-authors Marissa Shandell and Courtney Elliott links CEO narcissism with stronger opposition to remote work. The findings add another explanation to the debate over return-to-office mandates: some leaders may prefer offices because in-person settings offer more status, attention and control.
The researchers found that leaders who scored higher on measures associated with narcissism were more likely to resist work-from-home arrangements, according to the study. They also concluded that those leaders were more inclined to favor return-to-office requirements.
The study examined Fortune 500 CEOs over six years and used indirect measures to estimate narcissistic traits. Those measures included executive pay levels, the size of CEOs’ signatures in company reports and the prominence of their photos in those reports, according to the researchers.
CEOs with higher narcissism scores were more likely to seek additional status, including becoming chair of their company’s board, the study found. They were also more likely to make negative comments about remote and hybrid work early in the pandemic, according to the researchers.
Grant, Shandell and Elliott argued that face-to-face work gives narcissistic leaders more ways to project authority. In the study, they wrote that in-person communication lets leaders use eye contact, gestures, posture and shifts in voice to command attention in ways that video, phone, email and text do not.
The researchers also ran an experiment designed to test causation. They asked some CEOs to think about how a bold, assertive ego contributed to the success of Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, according to the study.
After that exercise, the leaders who had been prompted to think about ego were more likely to oppose working from home than CEOs who did not receive the same prompt, the researchers found. Grant, Shandell and Elliott said that result suggests activating a leader’s ego can increase resistance to remote work.
The findings arrive after several prominent executives have defended office requirements on business grounds. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote in a return-to-office memo that in-person work improves collaboration, brainstorming, invention, teaching and learning, according to Fortune. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said a five-day office mandate would boost creativity, Fortune reported.
Other executives have made broader arguments against remote work. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink suggested in 2022 that bringing employees back to offices could help counter inflation, according to Fortune. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has criticized video-heavy remote work and argued that in-person work supports mentoring, innovation and company culture, Fortune reported.
Grant, Shandell and Elliott wrote in a New York Times opinion essay that leaders who expressed stronger self-regard also wanted more power and status, and were more supportive of office mandates. They warned that CEO ego could cause companies to overlook benefits of flexible work arrangements.
The researchers pointed to separate evidence that employees value flexibility, including a Nature study cited by Fortune. They also cautioned that full-time office mandates may carry risks if leaders impose them for reasons tied more to their own preferences than to the needs of the business.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.