{"slug": "how-to-spot-a-narcissist-on-linkedin-according-to-scientists", "title": "How to spot a narcissist on LinkedIn, according to scientists", "summary": "A new study from the University of Alabama with 661 participants found that narcissistic individuals are more likely to endorse profound-sounding nonsense on LinkedIn as a tactical bid to appear intellectually sophisticated, according to lead author William Hart. The research, published in two experiments, suggests this behavior is not due to gullibility but a deliberate impression management strategy.", "body_md": "# How to spot a narcissist on LinkedIn, according to scientists\n\n**READ MORE:**[Do you know what this corporate gibberish really means?](/sciencetech/article-15674769/corporate-gibberish-translator-AI-tool-LinkedIn.html)**See more Daily Mail on Google -**[save us as a Preferred Source](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=dailymail.com)\n\nHave you noticed someone sharing 'deep' takes on your LinkedIn feed?\n\nIf so, they might be a narcissist.\n\nThat's according to a new study, which has revealed how to spot narcissistic people on the popular networking platform.\n\nResearchers from the University of [Alabama](/news/alabama/index.html) carried out two experiments with more than 650 participants.\n\nThe results revealed that the more narcissistic a participant was, the keener they were to project a deep, insightful image on LinkedIn.\n\nWhy? Not because they are gullible, but because they want to look clever, according to the researchers.\n\n'Our findings suggest that endorsing empty, profound–sounding statements is not always a failure of judgment, it can be a tactical bid to look clever,' said the study's lead author, William Hart.\n\n'For narcissistic people in particular, appearing intellectually sophisticated seems to matter more than whether the statement actually means anything.'\n\nHave you noticed someone sharing 'deep' takes on your LinkedIn feed? If so, they might be a narcissist (stock image)\n\nFrom regularly looking in the mirror to constantly craving attention, there are several key signs that someone might be a narcissist.\n\nHowever, until now, the link between LinkedIn habits and narcissism has remained a mystery.\n\nTo get to the bottom of it, the researchers conducted two experiments with 661 university students.\n\nIn the first experiment, participants were told to come across as either a 'sophisticated' or an 'unsophisticated' thinker.\n\nThey were then asked to rate a series of nonsense phrases that you'd find on LinkedIn.\n\nThe results revealed that those trying to seem sophisticated rated nonsense phrases as more profound – and were also more likely to claim they knew made-up facts.\n\nIn the second experiment, participants completed surveys to assess how narcissistic they were, before being asked to rate the same nonsense phrases.\n\nAgain, the researchers found that the more narcissistic a participant was, the more likely they were to rate nonsense phrases as profound.\n\nInterestingly, the effect had nothing to do with their actual thinking ability.\n\nAccording to the researchers, this suggests that narcissists are not fooled by the nonsense so much as happy to endorse it if it makes them look clever.\n\nThe study comes shortly after the team at [Kagi Translate developed a corporate gibberish translator. ](/sciencetech/article-15674769/corporate-gibberish-translator-AI-tool-LinkedIn.html)\n\nThe translator uses [AI](/sciencetech/ai/index.html) to reveal what words and phrases you see across LinkedIn really mean.\n\nTo test the tool, the Daily Mail fed it 10 elaborate posts, which you may see on LinkedIn.\n\nAccording to the bot, a post claiming that someone is 'grateful to be surrounded by builders, not spectators', translates to: 'I'm desperately trying to sound important by hanging out with people who actually do things.'\n\nMeanwhile, if someone claims you should 'invest in relationships, not transactions', this really means: 'Stop calling people you don't actually like just because you might need a favor later.'\n\nAnd if you hear someone slating the idea of a 'work-life balance', it probably means they have no life, according to the bot.\n\nVladimir Prelovac, Kagi's founder and CEO, says he was inspired to create the tool after noticing a surge in jargon on LinkedIn.\n\n'LinkedIn has developed its own dialect at this point, complete with grammar, idioms and emotional conventions that would be unrecognisable to someone from even 15 years ago,' he told [The Times](https://www.thetimes.com/uk/technology-uk/article/ai-translation-linkedin-cringe-corporate-jargon-529bnvbl3).\n\n'The humblebrags, the emoji cadence, the inspirational sign-offs… it also translates in reverse, decoding a wall of buzzwords back into plain English. That might actually be the more useful direction.\n\n'The world is a stressful place right now and I guess we all need a laugh.'\n\n[To try it yourself here](https://translate.kagi.com/?from=en&to=linkedin), enter any corporate jargon into the 'LinkedIn Speak' section, and its true meaning will be revealed on the 'English' side.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-spot-a-narcissist-on-linkedin-according-to-scientists", "canonical_source": "https://www.dailymail.com/sciencetech/article-16029927/How-spot-narcissist-LinkedIn-according-scientists.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490", "published_at": "2026-08-05 10:30:32+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-05 10:50:37.263908+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["University of Alabama", "William Hart", "Kagi Translate", "Vladimir Prelovac", "LinkedIn", "Daily Mail"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-spot-a-narcissist-on-linkedin-according-to-scientists", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-spot-a-narcissist-on-linkedin-according-to-scientists.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-spot-a-narcissist-on-linkedin-according-to-scientists.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-spot-a-narcissist-on-linkedin-according-to-scientists.jsonld"}}