Key Points

Everyone finds negative feedback to be threatening and at least unpleasant.

For those high in narcissism, a new study shows that the eyes and eyebrows may react differently to criticism.

These findings can help you use facial cues as clues to who is and isn’t a narcissist.

You might think you’re pretty good at figuring out who’s a narcissist. Let’s say your regular barista has taken a day off from work, and a new person is now preparing your daily fuel to fuel you in the morning. Instead of listening to your order, they nod and confidently pour the exact opposite of what you asked for, all the while giving the impression that they’re the best at their job. While this is a minor inconvenience and not a disaster, you’re still annoyed that this barista didn’t take your very simple request into account.

As you think about the situation, it might remind you of other people whose self-absorption and desire for attention mean they’ve failed to take your needs into account, period. A counselor walks into your office or a substitute for your usual fitness trainer doesn’t seem to acknowledge the fact that they’re supposed to be there to help, not to brag.

As signs of narcissism, extreme self-absorption coupled with an outward display of grandiosity may seem like fairly blatant signals of their grandiosity. However, might other, less obvious signs help you avoid putting yourself in the hands of a narcissist?

Facial cues as a clue to personality

According to Ville Harjonen and colleagues from the University of Helsinki (2023), there’s a lot you can learn about a narcissist’s personality when you confront them with negative feedback about their performance. What if you told the person in the above situations that you were unhappy with their behavior? You might be afraid to confront them for fear of appearing rude. However, it may be precisely this confrontation that can help you assess the person you’re dealing with.

Harjonen et al. investigated whether the subtle signs of facial muscle response in narcissists, even when their self-reported emotions do not, are responsive to negative evaluative feedback. As the team points out, no one likes negative feedback, especially when it occurs in public. However, for people high in narcissism, such feedback should hit particularly hard, bursting their bubble of grandiosity.

Despite its harsh nature, negative feedback may not register in a narcissist’s self-report of the impact of not meeting their unrealistically high standards. Early studies on the topic suggested that people high in narcissism become aggressive and angry when faced with failure in public, but later studies have shown the opposite. To shed light on this issue, the University of Helsinki researchers decided to use psychophysiological measures of facial reactivity “which are less susceptible to voluntary control or biased reporting” (p. 3).

Testing reactions to criticism as seen in the face

Using a method known as electromyography (EMG), Harjonen and his fellow researchers sought to measure facial reactions in 57 participants (ages 18 to 44, average age 26) when they were exposed to a failure condition. In this condition, failure was induced by asking participants to complete a series of difficult, if not impossible, questions based on an experimental memory task (remembering details of a story). In the non-failure condition, the questions related to the story were easy to answer and would not lead to failure. After the task, the experimenter read a text that provided either neutral or negative feedback. Failure and non-failure trials alternated within the same participant.

EMG tapped into responses shown by the “smile” muscles (zygomaticus major), the muscles that open and close the eyes (orbicularis oculi), and the eyebrow muscles (brow corrugator). To assess narcissism, the research team used a standard personality inventory. They also asked participants to complete self-assessments of their feelings after the experimental induction.

Analyses that accounted for differences between individuals across the experiment supported the prediction of a disconnect between EMG responses and overt ratings of emotion. Everyone showed the same levels of negative affect after receiving feedback that showed them failing, but only those high in narcissism showed facial muscle patterns consistent with feelings of anger and frustration.

Building on the basic idea that most people prefer to think of themselves in a positive light, whether they are narcissists or not, this carefully controlled investigation showed that people high in narcissism showed their response to threat in unique patterns of facial activation combined with increased use of “defensive coping strategies” (p. 14). In other words, someone high in narcissism might pretend that negative feedback has no effect on them, but their face would suggest the exact opposite.

Using Facial Cues to Identify Narcissists in Your Own Life

The University of Helsinki study provides interesting insights into the inner life of a narcissist when someone challenges their ability. They may appear completely calm and collected when you point out their flaws. Going back to the example of the confident but dissatisfied barista, if you tell them you’re dissatisfied with their service, it may take a closer look at their facial reactions to determine the impact your words are having. Electromyography studies of people high in narcissism have shown increased engagement of the forehead muscles and eye sockets. This means that you’ll get a brief, angry look when you point out their flaws. While practicing your narcissism-sensing skills may provide a certain level of amusement if the other person isn’t a major figure in your life, it takes on a more serious dimension when you’re trying to decide whether you should get into a relationship with someone who seems to have some overt narcissistic tendencies. Before you assume their outward appearance reflects an exaggerated sense of ego, consider what happens when things don’t go their way. If they express outward anger but show no facial reaction at all, they are unlikely to be engaging in the narcissist’s “defensive coping.”

It is important to note that Harjonen et al.’s study was conducted on college students, not a clinical sample. However, there may be advantages to this particular feature. You are statistically unlikely to encounter a diagnosable narcissist in your normal life (thankfully). People who are basically “normal” but have high narcissistic tendencies are more likely to cross your path. So having a more nuanced set of cues to use to determine whether they fall into this normal but completely unpleasant category can be very helpful. Before you decide that an office consultant or fitness trainer must be a narcissist, studying their facial cues can guide you to a more informed, and perhaps less judgmental, assessment of their personality.

In short, knowing what to look for in a person’s face is always helpful for maintaining good relationships. Detecting narcissism through the subtle cues provided by the eyes and eyebrows can be a valuable tool to have in your personality assessment toolbox.