How narcissism ruins teamwork — and why it matters in the workplace

Teamwork can bring out both the best and the worst in people. Working together means sharing ideas and coordinating actions. But sometimes, it can also involve swallowing pride, particularly when people with strong personalities, such as those with narcissism, take charge.

In our new study, we explored how grandiose narcissism — the inflated belief that you’re brighter, bolder, and more capable than everyone else — affects cooperation in a team.

Instead of running surveys in a lab, we took narcissism into the wild: with more than 100 people locked in commercial escape rooms, racing the clock to solve puzzles together.

Personality psychologists distinguish between two sides of grandiose narcissism. Narcissistic admiration is the charming, confident, magnetic side that wins people over. Narcissistic rivalry, by contrast, is the defensive, combative side — quick to take offence when its status feels threatened.

Both protect a grandiose self-image, but in different ways: admiration draws people in, rivalry pushes them away. We wanted to see which side helps or harms teamwork when the pressure’s on.

THE ESCAPE-ROOM EXPERIMENT
Participants were split into small teams of four or five, most meeting for the first time. After a quick icebreaker, they entered a jungle-themed escape room with 60 minutes to find clues and escape. Success depended on communication, trust, and problem-solving: exactly what makes real-world teams thrive.

Before and after the escape-room challenge, players rated themselves and one another on traits like likeability, empathy, and confidence. This let us see how first impressions held up when the pressure kicked in.

We also measured the two sides of narcissism — admiration (charm, confidence, leadership) and rivalry (defensiveness, competitiveness). Finally, we tracked how well the teams gelled together, how much conflict emerged and how successful they were — not just how successful they felt, but how many rooms they actually escaped.

This was what’s called a round-robin design: every team member rated both themselves and each of their teammates. This let us capture not just how narcissistic people see themselves, but how they’re actually seen by others — giving a rare glimpse into real-time reputation and perception within teams.

RIVALRY WRECKS PERFORMANCE
The findings were striking. Teams high in narcissistic rivalry performed worse than others, making around one-third less progress in the escape challenge. They solved fewer puzzles, reported less unity, and generally found the experience more frustrating.

Why? Rivalry undermined team cohesion: the sense of unity that keeps people working towards a shared goal. Under pressure, rivalrous people tended to withdraw, dismiss others’ suggestions or hold back information. They didn’t always start arguments, but their defensiveness quietly slowed the group down.

The takeaway is simple: ego doesn’t just make teammates annoying, it breaks the collective bond that gets the job done.

The admiration side of narcissism told a more seductive story. Those high in admiration looked confident, likeable, and ready to lead. Early on, they seemed to boost morale. But by the end of the task, teammates saw them as more arrogant and less empathic.

In other words, the charisma that first impressed others soon wore thin once teamwork required genuine give and take. It’s the office classic: the confident self-promoter who dazzles in the meeting, but frustrates everyone by the project’s end.

Modern workplaces run on collaboration: hybrid meetings, agile teams, constant “visibility.” Yet confidence and self-promotion are still too often mistaken for competence.

Our research shows that the wrong kind of confidence can quietly undermine trust, creativity and performance. As organizations rethink leadership and teamwork in the wake of the pandemic and remote work, it’s worth asking: are we rewarding charisma over collaboration? Are our “team players” actually playing for themselves?

The fix isn’t to sideline confident people. But it’s to value good listeners as much as good talkers. Leaders who prize only assertiveness risk breeding rivalry instead of cooperation.

Building psychologically safe teams, where members can speak up without fear of ridicule, helps counteract the corrosive effects of ego.

Even team-building games reveal this dynamic. Escape rooms, often sold as fun bonding exercises, also expose who dominates, who supports and who quietly gives up when they’re not center stage. Those moments tell you far more about teamwork than any personality test.

The escape-room setting gave us a rare window into narcissism in motion. Participants couldn’t hide behind screens or polish their image: every decision, glance and interruption played out in real time.

What we saw was clear: rivalry isolates, admiration impresses but fades. The most successful teams weren’t the loudest, but the ones that stayed cohesive, communicative, and generous — even when the clock was ticking.

THE CONVERSATION VIA REUTERS CONNECT

Claire Hart is an associate professor of Psychology at the University of Southampton. Reece Bush-Evans is a senior lecturer in Psychology at Bournemouth University.