Narcissistic leaders are more likely to oppose remote work, study suggests

Now, we don’t usually want to fan the dying embers of the tedious, endless RTO v WFH conversation, but this is a potentially interesting addition to consider. According to a new study from researchers at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, business leaders with stronger narcissistic tendencies are significantly more likely to resist remote and hybrid working arrangements because they see them as a threat to their power and status. Published in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, the study suggests that opposition to remote work may not be driven solely by concerns about productivity, collaboration or organisational performance. Instead, it may also stem from leaders’ personal motivations and psychological needs.

The researchers argue that remote working environments reduce opportunities for leaders to exert influence and receive recognition from employees. As a result, leaders who place a particularly high value on authority, visibility and admiration are more likely to favour office-based work.

The study examined the relationship between narcissism and attitudes towards remote work across three separate investigations involving senior executives and managers. The first analysed 259 chief executives from Fortune 500 companies during the Covid-19 pandemic. Using established proxy measures of narcissism, including the prominence of executive photographs in annual reports, signature size and relative compensation, the researchers compared these indicators with public statements about remote work.

They found that CEOs who scored more highly on these measures were more likely to express opposition to remote and hybrid working arrangements. The relationship remained significant after accounting for factors including company size, industry and executive characteristics.

The researchers also found evidence that highly narcissistic leaders were more likely to hold positions associated with greater organisational influence and prestige, such as serving as chair of the board or sitting on external boards. These factors were linked to stronger resistance to remote working, particularly in industries where office attendance was not constrained by the need for frontline staff.

A second study involved 359 managers and supervisors across a range of industries in the United States. Participants completed surveys measuring narcissistic personality traits, attitudes towards remote work and motivations relating to power and status. The results replicated the earlier findings, showing that leaders with higher levels of narcissism were significantly more resistant to remote work.

Importantly, the researchers found that this relationship was largely explained by two factors: a desire to maintain control over employees and a desire to preserve personal prestige and social standing. Leaders who scored highly on narcissism were more likely to agree with statements emphasising authority over staff and the importance of being admired and respected. These motivations, in turn, predicted stronger support for office attendance and restrictions on remote working.

The findings remained robust even after controlling for a wide range of alternative explanations, including trust in employees, the Big Five personality traits, and the other so-called Dark Triad personality characteristics of Machiavellianism and psychopathy. According to the authors, narcissism emerged as the most consistent personality predictor of resistance to remote work.

The third study tested whether narcissistic thinking could directly increase opposition to remote work. More than 500 managers were randomly assigned to read material that encouraged them to think about leadership in highly self-focused and status-oriented terms. Those exposed to the narcissism-related material subsequently expressed greater resistance to remote work than those in a control group.

The experiment suggested that concerns about power played a particularly important role. Leaders who were prompted to think in narcissistic ways became more likely to emphasise authority and control over employees, which in turn increased their preference for office-based work. Evidence for status concerns was weaker in the experimental setting, although status motivations remained important in the survey research.

The authors draw on media richness theory to explain the findings. Face-to-face work provides a broader range of communication cues, including body language, eye contact, immediate feedback and opportunities for informal interaction. Remote communication, by contrast, can be more fragmented and ambiguous. For leaders who seek affirmation and influence through direct interpersonal contact, virtual environments may therefore feel less satisfying and less effective.

The researchers argue that while many previous studies have focused on practical barriers to remote work, such as technology, organisational processes or managerial capability, relatively little attention has been paid to the role of leader personality. As organisations continue to debate return-to-office policies, they suggest that personal motives may be an overlooked factor shaping workplace decisions.

The paper notes that return-to-office mandates have become increasingly common despite evidence that they can reduce employee satisfaction and retention without necessarily improving organisational performance. The findings suggest that some of these policies may reflect leaders’ psychological preferences as much as business requirements.

According to the authors, understanding the personality characteristics that influence attitudes towards flexible work could help organisations evaluate workplace policies more critically and distinguish between decisions driven by operational needs and those influenced by individual leadership preferences.