{
  "id": 17421033,
  "title": "Narcissistic employees will work harder for a title than for a raise, study finds",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/31/narcissistic-employees-will-work-harder-for-a-title-than-for-a-raise",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-31T15:00:30.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PsyPost",
    "slug": "psypost",
    "url": "https://www.psypost.org/narcissistic-employees-will-work-harder-for-a-title-than-for-a-raise-study-finds/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "New research reveals that narcissistic employees find public recognition and flashy job titles far more enticing than tangible raises or private praise. Conducted by a team of psychologists and published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, the study examines the role of grandiose narcissism, a personality trait marked by an inflated sense of self-importance and beliefs in superiority. The findings suggest that those with higher levels of narcissism are more motivated by public accolades, even when they receive no additional compensation. This preference is rooted in a strong desire for social status and a lack of concern about causing envy among coworkers. Previous studies have shown that narcissistic individuals are driven to constantly seek opportunities to boost their status, either by drawing admiration or by putting others down. In contrast, those with lower narcissism levels tend to shy away from the spotlight due to fears of sparking feelings of inferiority in their peers. The researchers recruited 1,069 full-time U.S. employees for their studies, which were preregistered with publicly available materials. In one study, participants rated the motivating power of various rewards, with private options like raises scoring higher than public ones such as employee-of-the-month awards. However, more narcissistic employees showed a marked preference for public recognition over private rewards. In another study, employees evaluated specific incentives, including a 10 percent bonus, a promotion, and a fancy lunch. When the reward itself remained constant, narcissistic workers consistently chose public recognition over private acknowledgment for six out of seven scenarios. Overall, the study highlights the significant impact of narcissistic traits on an employee's motivation and suggests that traditional management tactics of offering impressive titles without additional pay may disproportionately appeal to narcissistic workers.",
  "summary": "Most workers in a new study took the money. But the higher someone scored on a measure of grandiose narcissism, the more likely they were to want the title instead — even when both jobs carried identical authority.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}