Study Links CEO Narcissism to Remote Work Resistance

Researchers found leaders scoring higher on narcissism measures more strongly opposed remote and hybrid work in three studies.

Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Remote Work

Study Links CEO Narcissism to Remote Work Resistance

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Should employers be required to offer employees remote work options?

A study published in July in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes linked leader narcissism to resistance to remote and hybrid work. CEOs scoring higher on narcissism measures made public statements opposing remote work more strongly from March 2020 to May 2021.

Why it matters

The findings suggest that resistance to flexible work may stem from leaders' desire for power and status rather than a lack of trust in employees. The pattern held across industries that do and do not rely on frontline workers, pointing to a leadership trait rather than operational necessity.

The findings draw on 259 Fortune 500 CEOs, 359 U.S. leaders surveyed in 2023, and 546 U.S. leaders in a 2025 experiment. The study did not measure actual remote work policies adopted by these organizations.

The players

Adam Grant, PhD

Adam Grant is a management professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a prolific author on organizational psychology and work behavior.

Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania

The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, widely regarded as one of the leading management schools in the United States.

The details

Researchers estimated CEO narcissism from the prominence of the CEO's photo in the annual report, the size of the CEO's signature, and the CEO's pay compared with the second-highest-paid executive. In the experiment, one group of leaders read a passage presenting narcissistic CEOs as bold and successful, and the effect ran through a desire for power.

March 2020 to May 2021: CEO public statements opposing remote work were analyzed.
2023: A three-wave survey of 359 U.S. leaders was conducted.
2025: An experiment with 546 U.S. leaders was conducted.
July: The study was published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.
Oct. 26: Knowledge at Wharton published an article on the study.

Market Landscape

The study ties the early pandemic push toward remote work to a measurable split among executives, with narcissistic CEOs publicly resisting it more strongly from March 2020 to May 2021. That divide bears on the broader post-pandemic contest over whether hybrid and remote arrangements persist among large employers.

For employees, the findings suggest that a leader's personal traits may shape whether flexible arrangements are offered, regardless of the job's actual needs. Workers weighing remote or hybrid roles may find it useful to consider how their own leadership views flexibility.

The takeaway

Leadership personality can influence workplace policy as much as business need does. Employees evaluating remote or hybrid opportunities may find it helpful to ask how leadership thinks about flexibility before accepting a role.