The literature on narcissism suggests two contradictory ways how highly narcissistic individuals deal with their failures: They might avoid consciously recognising their failures to protect their ego or they might vigilantly turn towards their failures to process cues that are important for maintaining their grandiosity. We tried to dissolve these contradictory positions by studying event-related potential components of error processing and their variations with narcissism. With a speeded go/no-go task, we examined how the error-related negativity (Ne; reflecting an early, automatic processing stage) and the error positivity (Pe; associated with conscious error detection) vary with Admiration and Rivalry, two narcissism dimensions, under ego-threatening conditions. Using multilevel models, we showed that participants with high Rivalry displayed higher Ne amplitudes suggesting a heightened trait of defensive reactivity. We did not find variations of either narcissism dimension with the Pe, which would have pointed to weaker error awareness. Thus, our results only supported the second position: a heightened vigilance to errors in narcissism at early, rather automatic processing stages.

The error negativity (Ne/ERN) and error positivity (Pe) are two components of the event-related brain potential (ERP) that are associated with action monitoring and error detection. To investigate the relation between error processing and conscious self-monitoring of behavior, the present experiment examined whether an Ne and Pe are observed after response errors of which participants are unaware. Ne and Pe measures, behavioral accuracy, and trial-to-trial subjective accuracy judgments were obtained from participants performing an antisaccade task, which elicits many unperceived, incorrect reflex-like saccades. Consistent with previous research, subjectively unperceived saccade errors were almost always immediately corrected, and were associated with faster correction times and smaller saccade sizes than perceived errors. Importantly, irrespective of whether the participant was aware of the error or not, erroneous saccades were followed by a sizable Ne. In contrast, the Pe was much more pronounced for perceived than for unperceived errors. Unperceived errors were characterized by the absence of posterror slowing. These and other results are consistent with the view that the Ne and Pe reflect the activity of two separate error monitoring processes, of which only the later process, reflected by the Pe, is associated with conscious error recognition and remedial action.

The anterior cingulate is believed to play a crucial role in the regulation of thought and action. Recent evidence suggests that the anterior cingulate may play a role in the detection of inappropriate responses. We used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging techniques to examine the neural responses to appropriate (correct rejects and correct hits) and inappropriate (errors of commission) behavioral responses during a go/no-go task. Analyses of the inappropriate responses revealed extensive activation in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex and in the left lateral frontal cortex. These areas were not activated for correctly classified trials (correct rejects and correct hits). These data suggest that the rostral anterior cingulate and left lateral frontal cortex are integral components of the brain's error checking system.