How to spot psychopaths and narcissists, with Leanne ten Brinke

How to spot psychopaths and narcissists, with Leanne ten Brinke

From ReThinking by TED

March 10, 2026 · 35 min

About this episode

Leanne ten Brinke discusses how to identify and manage narcissists and psychopaths in personal and professional settings.

Leanne ten Brinke is a social psychologist at the University of British Columbia and an expert on narcissists, psychopaths, and liars. In this episode, Leanne and Adam debunk common myths about people with these dark personality traits and share tips for spotting them.They also break down strategies for connecting with and managing people with these traits, discuss how to reduce any dark tendencies you might see in yourself, and rethink their place in workplaces. Featured guest Follow Leanne ten Brinke on Instagram and at leannetenbrinke.com/ Connect with the team Follow Adam on Instagram , LinkedIn , and at adamgrant.net/ Subscribe to Adam’s Substack Watch ReThinking videos on YouTube at TEDAudioCollective Follow TED on X , Instagram , Facebook , LinkedIn , and TikTok ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard . Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith. For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at  attend.ted.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy…

People in this episode

Host: Adam Grant

Guest: Leanne ten Brinke

Topics covered

  • psychology
  • narcissism
  • psychopathy
  • personality traits
  • workplace dynamics

Keywords

  • psychopaths
  • narcissists
  • dark personality traits
  • social psychology
  • workplace management

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of British Columbia, TED, Cosmic Standard

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