Narcissists are well known for their toxic influence upon the workplace, with this negative outlook often framed in terms of their arrogance and aggression. New research from Oregon State University also shows that narcissists are very unlikely to learn from their mistakes, due in large part to their belief that they don’t make any to begin with.
The process of analyzing our past actions is known as “should counterfactual thinking”, and involves us imagining different outcomes to those that actually occurred. The researchers suggest that while we all engage in some level of self-protective thinking, such as attributing our successes to our own efforts, and failures to external forces, narcissists take it to a whole new level.
“Narcissists do this way more because they think they’re better than others,” the researchers explain. “They don’t take advice from other people; they don’t trust others’ opinions. … You can flat-out ask, ‘What should you have done differently?’ And it might be, ‘Nothing, it turned out; it was good.'”
Learning from experience
The research consisted of four variations of the same experiment, which were conducted with four different groups. The volunteers were first asked to rank their narcissism via a test requiring them to choose among pairs of statements. The first variation of the experiment then required them to read the qualifications of a hypothetical job candidate before deciding whether to hire that person.
After they had made their choice, they were given information about how that person had actually fare in the job, asked whether they would alter their thinking, and then assessed on the level of their “should counterfactual thinking.” The four variants of the experiment were broadly the same, but differed in the methods used to analyze counterfactual thinking in the volunteers.
A common problem we encounter when engaging in counterfactual thinking is the hindsight bias, which prompts us to exaggerate in hindsight what is subsequently known in foresight. It’s believed that the hindsight bias is often deployed as a protective measure when predictions turn out to be inaccurate.
Failure to learn
The results reveal that when narcissists correctly predicted the outcome, they felt it was more foreseeable than non-narcissists did, but the reverse was true when they got the outcome wrong. Regardless of the outcome, the narcissistic volunteers seldom thought they needed to do anything differently as a result.
“They’re falling prey to the hindsight bias, and they’re not learning from it when they make mistakes. And when they get things right, they’re still not learning,” the researchers say.
This is problematic as narcissists are prone to rise through the corporate ranks due to their high confidence levels and tendency to take credit for the work of others (and shift blame elsewhere for failures). If such leaders are unable to learn from situations effectively, then it can lead to poor performance across the organization.
To overcome the risk of the hindsight bias, the researchers suggest people should set aside time for reflection after any decisions they make, even if the outcome was ultimately positive. They should ask themselves whether they would have done anything differently. They also suggest that as narcissists are unlikely to engage in this process voluntarily, that advisory panels should exist to do it for them.
