Think A College Degree Makes You Immune To Fake News? Your Narcissism Might Be Canceling Out Your Education

By Emily Chan Jan 22, 2026

New research has found that having narcissistic personality traits can eliminate the benefits of higher education when it comes to conspiracy theories and misinformation.

The effect kicks in at moderately elevated levels of narcissism, which impacts roughly 16% of the population.

In two studies involving a total of 660 American adults, researchers from the University of South Australia discovered that highly narcissistic individuals with advanced degrees were not much better at spotting misinformation than those with only a high school education.

For the first study, made up of 354 participants, the researchers measured how likely people were to see conspiracies behind major events.

Individuals with bachelor's or graduate degrees had fewer beliefs in conspiracies than those with just a high school education. But when the research team added narcissism to the equation, the pattern changed.

Participants with education beyond high school who scored high on narcissistic traits appeared to lose much of the critical thinking skills they were taught. This indicates that narcissism affects how people use their education.

The second study, involving 306 participants, tested whether this pattern applied not just to conspiracy theories but to general misinformation.

The researchers showed the participants fake and real news headlines to see how well they could tell the difference. The highly narcissistic individuals with more education did not perform as well, despite their educational advantage.

Narcissistic people believe they are better than others, and they love to be admired. They may be drawn to conspiracy theories because having secret knowledge that others are unaware of can make them feel superior.

Long hair brunette woman close up sitting in cafe, have a rest. Portrait of woman look sensual, dreaming or flirty. Girl look at camera zvkate - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person

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Education can also help make their arguments more solid. Narcissists may use their education to make themselves feel special, not to be accurate.

They tend to assume that others are up to no good and have bad intentions. So, they often think that others are conspiring against them. Education does not change this way of thinking.

It actually doesn't take much narcissism to erase the benefits of education. The benefits fade away at everyday levels of entitlement and self-importance, which describes a large part of the educated population. Narcissism and the desire to be unique weaken educational advantages the most.

Overall, these findings demonstrate why some highly educated people believe fake news and wild theories. Seeking the truth is not as important to them as fulfilling their own psychological needs.

Narcissistic personality traits are difficult to change, especially when people aren't interested in doing so.

Education has always been the best way to protect against misinformation, but it is not entirely foolproof. When narcissism comes into play, education can be transformed into a weapon for defending false beliefs. Learning to recognize the pattern can help address the issue.

The findings were published in Personality and Individual Differences.

By Emily Chan Jan 22, 2026

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