Collective Narcissism Research Articles

Religiosity and ambivalent sexism: the role of religious group narcissism

Although religious identification often correlates positively with traditional gender role attitudes and ambivalent sexism (Mikołajczak & Pietrzak, Sex Roles, 70(9–10), 387–399, 2014), other work shows it has countervailing associations with related conservative views (Lockhart et al., Religion, Brain & Behavior, 10(4), 379–392, 2020). One reason these opposing effects emerge is that insecure (or narcissistic) and secure forms of religious identification may have differing impacts on ambivalent sexism. To test this possibility, we analysed data from a nationwide random sample of adults who identified as religious (N = 1116). Whilst religious identification alone was unassociated with hostile and benevolent sexism, religious narcissism correlated positively with both forms of sexism. After including both predictors in a regression, religious identification correlated negatively with both forms of sexism and religious narcissism became a stronger positive correlate of sexism. These findings demonstrate that secure and insecure forms of religious identification suppress the respective positive and negative associations religious identification and religious narcissism have with sexism.

From Individual Anxiety to Collective Narcissism? Adult Attachment Styles and Different Types of National Commitment.

National narcissism and national identification, two distinct types of national commitment, differ in terms of their psychological concomitants. Therefore, in the current article, we hypothesized that they would also relate to different adult attachment styles. Namely, we proposed that national narcissism would be positively associated with higher attachment anxiety, while national identification would be associated with lower attachment anxiety and avoidance. These hypotheses were tested in three cross-sectional surveys (Study 1 N = 570; Study 3 N = 558; Study 4 N = 649) and one longitudinal survey (Study 2 N = 808). In all studies, we found a consistent positive relationship between attachment anxiety and national narcissism, and a negative relationship between attachment avoidance and national identification. Finally, we also demonstrated indirect effects of attachment anxiety (via national narcissism) on maladaptive group-related outcomes: conspiracy beliefs, non-normative collective action, and willingness to conspire.

Blinded by the White (Nationalism): Separatist Ideology and Discounting the Threat of COVID-19 to Society

After more than one million COVID-19 deaths and ninety-one million cases in the United States, it is clear that COVID-19 has and will continue to pose a threat to the health of the United States’ population and economy. However, despite the clear and early warnings from the CDC, many have continued to downplay the impact of the pandemic, which has arguably inflamed the perniciousness of the virus. Using data from national surveys conducted a year apart, in March 2020 and March 2021, we examine the perceived national and personal threat of COVID-19 in the United States. We argue that collective narcissism—in the form of White nationalism—has blinded some Americans to this national threat, leading to an inadequate collective response that was further exacerbated by the political leadership of former President Donald Trump. We demonstrate that White nationalism is associated with discounting the national but not personal threat of the virus. This was true both early in the pandemic (2020) and later (2021), after the virus had ravaged the country.

Pamięć o Żydach w wielkich słownikach języka polskiego. Rekonesans. cz. II

REMEMBRANCE OF JEWS IN GREAT DICTIONARIES OF POLISH LANGUAGE: RECONNAISSANCE
 Nine centuries of Polish-Jewish contacts in all spheres of life left a mark in Polish. The author of the article decided to check how great and how durable this trace is, looking in the great dictionaries of the Polish language for units considered as carriers of the memory of Jews. The author asks the question which prejudges the fact that a certain unit of language can be considered as a carrier of the memory of Jews. Also, the author attempts to establish in which linguistic forms this Jewish element can be manifested in dictionaries. The trial analysis examined the presence of 240 carriers of memory (“verbal judaics”), sampled from journals, memoir literature and tourist guides published after 2000, in two dictionaries intended for the mass audience: the Dictionary of Polish edited by M. Szymczak, and An Alternative Polish Dictionary edited by M. Bańko. It turned out that these dictionaries recorded only 25% of the collected corps of verbal judaics, often depriving the definitions of these units of the Jewish component. The author reflects on the social consequences of this state of affairs and its relationship with the “collective narcissism” of the Polish society and the historical policy pursued by the Polish state.

Links Between Conspiracy Thinking and Attitudes Toward Democracy and Religion: Survey Data From Poland

Religion and democracy are not only social institutions but also objects of attitudes. This article focuses on conspiracy thinking and its links with attitudes toward religion and democracy. Due to its contextual character, the study is limited to Poland and the article intends to report the data on the subject from surveys conducted in this country. In terms of conspiracy thinking and attitudes toward religion, the literature review of existing Polish survey data (Study 1) led to the conclusion that not all types of religious life are correlated with conspiracy thinking. Individual spirituality (the centrality of religiosity and the quest orientation of religiosity) matters less in terms of conspiracy thinking than religion understood as a specific element of ideology (Polish Catholic nationalism, religious fundamentalism, or collective narcissism). In terms of attitudes toward democracy (Study 2), the original dataset is coded in a new way (as categorial variables) and then presented. It suggests that, contrary to earlier research, conspiracy thinking does not necessarily lead to the support of anti-democratic attitudes. Alienation as much as radicalization might be a consequence of conspiracy thinking. There is no significant difference in terms of conspiracy thinking between adherents of authoritarian rules and conditional democrats, indifferent democrats, or people with ambivalent opinions on democracy, described in comparative research on political culture as dissatisfied democrats or critical citizens. The lower level of conspiracy thinking has been identified only among consistent democrats.

Toward a Better Understanding of Fair-Weather Fandom: Exploring the Role of Collective Narcissism in Basking in Reflected Glory and Cutting Off Reflected Failure

Researchers have found highly identified sport fans exhibit almost unwavering loyalty. Such loyalty has been exhibited by fans basking in reflected glory (BIRGing) following team wins, but not cutting off reflected failure (CORFing) following team losses. In short, they stick with the team through thick and thin, and thus would not be construed as fair-weather fans (those who associate with the team when they are winning, but disassociate when they are losing). Despite their presence, little is known about fair-weather fans, including the roots of their fandom. In the current study, we explore the role of collective narcissism—a type of in-group identification characterized by an insecure self-esteem—in predicting BIRGing and CORFing patterns. We find collective narcissism to be a predictor of BIRGing and CORFing patterns characteristic of fair-weather fandom. This extends research on collective narcissism, BIRGing, and CORFing, while also providing actionable insight for practitioners seeking to combat fair-weather fandom.

“‘Cause We Are the Champions of the World”

Abstract. National narcissism is a defensive form of group identity that is contingent on external validation and involves unrealistic belief in the nation’s greatness. Those high in national narcissism are susceptible to ingroup-enhancing narratives. In two pre-registered studies, conducted in Poland ( N = 1,134) and the United Kingdom ( N = 501), we hypothesized and found that national narcissism predicts support for historical policies that emphasize the great achievements and past dominance of one’s own group. Furthermore, we found that the relationship between national narcissism and support for ingroup-enhancing historical policies can be accounted for by the perceived contribution of one’s own country to the world’s history. We discuss implications for research on collective narcissism and historical policies.

The fear of confession? High Catholic collective narcissism and low secure identification with Catholics predict increased pedophilia myth acceptance

AbstractOver the past 30 years, the Catholic Church has been rocked by a series of child sexual abuse scandals worldwide. Some of the religious officials suggested that the children are partly to blame for being sexually abused by priests. We assumed that such convictions (i.e., pedophilia myth acceptance) should be associated with a defensive commitment to one's religious group, captured by religious collective narcissism. In two studies conducted among Polish participants (Study 1, longitudinal, n = 719; Study 2, cross‐sectional, n = 357), we found that pedophilia myth acceptance was positively predicted by Catholic narcissism but negatively by secure identification with Catholics. We additionally demonstrated that the effect of Catholic narcissism on pedophilia myth acceptance was mediated by a siege mentality with respect to the religious in‐group. We discuss the role of different types of group commitment in predicting in‐group criticism and prejudice against underaged victims of sexual abuse.

Understanding identity processes in support for reactionary and progressive social movements among advantaged and disadvantaged groups: The role of collective narcissism and secure ingroup identity

AbstractAcross five studies (two representative, one pre‐registered, total N = 4962), we examined the role of collective narcissism and secure identity in support for reactionary (Alt‐Right and nationalist) and progressive (Black Lives Matter and Women's Strike) social movements among advantaged (White Americans and Polish national majority) versus disadvantaged (Black Americans) groups. Among advantaged groups, collective narcissism, more so than secure identity, was related to more support for reactionary movements (Studies 1–4) and less support for progressive movements (Studies 1–3). Studies 3a, 3b and 4 directly compared members of advantaged and disadvantaged ethnic groups in the US and suggested that both collective narcissism and secure identity were positively associated with support for progressive movements among disadvantaged groups. This research contributes to understanding the identity processes involved in reactionary and progressive movements. It highlights the importance of distinguishing secure and defensive (i.e., narcissistic) identities, particularly when investigating support for reactionary movements among advantaged groups.

Narcissism as a global barrier to education for sustainable development

Narcissism, extreme self-interest, refers to a set of personality characteristics including arrogance, self-centeredness, need for admiration, sense of entitlement, grandiosity, lack of empathy, and interpersonal exploitation, which can range from normal to a diagnosable mental disorder, narcissistic personality disorder. Narcissism, deriving from the Greek myth of Narcissus who fell in love with his reflection in a pool of water which led to his demise, is part of our human nature and is associated with aggressive behaviour, conflict and war, counterproductive work behaviour, “bad” leadership, and weaker environmental ethics. Evidence suggests that individual and collective narcissism is increasing worldwide. Correspondingly, individualism is increasing while collectivism is declining. Furthermore, leadership attracts narcissists with its allure of power and prestige, who then affect their organisations’ performance, and those higher in narcissism tend to attain higher leadership levels. These trends are increasingly problematic as our world shifts toward greater interdependence. Add the challenges of narcissism with its corresponding threats to sustainable institutions to the challenges of sustainable development, “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987: 43), and this identifies an overlooked barrier to education for sustainable development. We developed a testable model to address this barrier. Since the determining factors for institutional sustainability are generated largely by activities of specific teams, departments, and task forces, our framework stresses interactions at the group level in education systems. This model presents seven sets of impacts of a narcissistic leader’s actions upon the outcomes for her or his group, generates fourteen propositions, and outlines research strategies.

Conditional Parochial Vicarious Ostracism: Gender Collective Narcissism Predicts Distress at the Exclusion of the Gender Ingroup in Women and Men

Three experiments (two pre-registered) tested whether gender collective narcissism (i.e., a belief that one’s gender ingroup’s exceptionality is not sufficiently recognized by others) predicts parochial vicarious ostracism (i.e., feeling ostracized and distressed while recognizing the gender ingroup’s exclusion, but not when recognizing the exclusion of the gender outgroup). In all studies (overall N = 1480), gender collective narcissism was positively associated with distress among women who witnessed the exclusion of women, but not among men who witnessed the exclusion of women. In Study 3, gender collective narcissism was positively associated with distress among men who witnessed the exclusion of men, but not among women who witnessed the exclusion of men. These findings help explain why men do not universally feel distressed by the discrimination of women and why some women may mobilize to challenge gender discrimination.

It’s All About We: Leader Collective Narcissism and Intra- and Inter-Team Behavior

In this paper, we examine how leaders’ collective narcissism can have divergent effects on leaders’ actions toward their own teams and other teams within their organization, as well as the downstream implications of both the intra-team and inter-team dynamics. Specifically, we hypothesize that leaders’ collective narcissism will be associated with their increased intra-team helping behavior but will also be associated with their increased inter-team ostracism. Then, we propose that leaders’ intra-team helping behavior will have beneficial implications for intra-team collaboration and relationship conflict, whereas leaders’ inter-team ostracism will have deleterious implications for inter-team collaboration and relationship conflict. Finally, we argue that these effects will be more pronounced for lower power leaders. Data from a multisource, three-wave survey of 168 leaders and 748 subordinates were collected to test the proposed model. Overall, the results suggest that collective narcissism plays a meaningful role in how leaders act toward and influence their own teams and other teams within their organizations.

Narcissistic personality features across the life span

The present research examined the associations that age had with narcissistic personality features in two cross-sectional studies involving community members from the United States (Study 1; N = 3414) and Israel (Study 2; N = 2723). Age had a negative linear association with extraverted narcissism and antagonistic narcissism in both studies. Age did not have a negative linear association with neurotic narcissism in either study, but it did have a quadratic association with neurotic narcissism in both studies that suggested a flattening of the negative association among older individuals. Communal narcissism and collective narcissism were also included in Study 2 and age had negative linear associations with both of these additional aspects of narcissism. Taken together, these results suggest that there are age-related trends that indicate a general tendency for narcissistic personality features to be lower in older individuals than younger individuals. Discussion will focus on the implications of these findings for the understanding of age-related trends in narcissism across the life span.

Identifying hate speech in societal context: When psychological factors are more important than contents

AbstractWe tested how Muslim participants identify speeches as hate speech or not, and whether they thought an apology from the speakers is needed. In Studies 1a (N = 209) and 1b (N = 183), participants were asked about a speech delivered by a prominent ingroup figure showed that hate, meta‐hate, and collective narcissism tended to identify a prejudiced speech about outgroup members as not related to hate speech, and thus no apology is needed. Nonetheless, the resulting path was in contrast to participants who believe the outgroup nature as good. With similar predictors of Study 1, Study 2 (N = 191) showed that when participants were asked to identify a (non‐harmful) speech about ingroup delivered by a minority outgroup member, there was an opposite path compared to Study 1. Across all findings, we argue that in the real‐world setting, how a speech, with or without harmful contents, is identified depends on positive or negative views about ingroup and outgroup members by which it can dictate people's understanding and denial.

Predicting attitudinal and behavioral responses to COVID-19 pandemic using machine learning.

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multinational data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social and Moral Psychology of COVID-19 (N = 51,404) to test the predictive efficacy of constructs from social, moral, cognitive, and personality psychology, as well as socio-demographic factors, in the attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic. The results point to several valuable insights. Internalized moral identity provided the most consistent predictive contribution—individuals perceiving moral traits as central to their self-concept reported higher adherence to preventive measures. Similar results were found for morality as cooperation, symbolized moral identity, self-control, open-mindedness, and collective narcissism, while the inverse relationship was evident for the endorsement of conspiracy theories. However, we also found a non-neglible variability in the explained variance and predictive contributions with respect to macro-level factors such as the pandemic stage or cultural region. Overall, the results underscore the importance of morality-related and contextual factors in understanding adherence to public health recommendations during the pandemic.

Too great to be guilty? Individuals high in collective narcissism demand closure regarding the past to attenuate collective guilt

AbstractWhile the Holocaust is widely regarded by Germans as one of the worst human atrocities, they differ in their readiness to express collective guilt or, in contrast, in their demand to close this chapter of history. We propose that such a demand for historical closure (HC) is particularly pronounced among individuals high in collective narcissism, and is systematically related to reduced collective guilt. Across three studies (N = 1,383), collective narcissism was significantly related to demand for HC, even when controlling for national identification and national pride. Moreover, collective narcissism was associated with reduced guilt only via demand for HC, but not via the defensive strategies of moral delegitimization of the victims or demand for recognition of the perpetrator group's suffering. Yet collective narcissism was associated via all three defensive strategies with fewer actual donations to support Holocaust survivors. We discuss how demanding HC helps group members to shield their ingroup from its negative past, thus alleviating aversive feelings of collective guilt.

It's only discrimination when they do it to us: When White men use ingroup‐serving double standards in definitional boundaries of discrimination

AbstractThere is a widespread agreement that discrimination is bad, but disagreement about how discrimination is defined and identified. Discrimination is sometimes defined narrowly (including only a restricted range of behaviours), and sometimes broadly (encompassing a wide range of behaviours). Three experiments (the latter two preregistered) found that White men define sexist discrimination (Study 1, N = 88) and racist discrimination (Study 2, N = 130; Study 3, N = 128) more narrowly when it was committed by their group against others and more broadly when it was directed against their group by others. Collective narcissism moderated (i.e. exacerbated) this effect in all three studies. However, when social dominance orientation (SDO) was considered simultaneously, it emerged as the more reliable moderator (Study 3). These results highlight that definitions of discrimination are not static but employed flexibly depending on context and hierarchy‐supporting motivations.

Collective Narcissism and Perceptions of the (Il)legitimacy of the 2020 US Election

Abstract Recent work suggests that collective narcissism—an exaggerated, unrealistic belief in an in-group’s greatness that demands constant external validation—is a reliable predictor of authoritarian-populist hostility toward democratic norms, processes, and outcomes. In the present study, we use a recent survey of American adults to examine the relationship between collective narcissism and perceptions that the 2020 election in the US was illegitimate. We find evidence that those high in national collective narcissism are more likely to endorse a number of beliefs about the illegitimacy of the 2020 US election, including greater perception of fraud, procedural unfairness, and inaccurate vote counting. Importantly, we find that this relationship is strongest among those whose identities were most threatened by a loss of power due to the 2020 presidential outcome, i.e., Republicans and conservative identifiers.

Pamięć o Żydach w wielkich słownikach języka polskiego. Rekonesans

REMEMBRANCE OF JEWS IN THE GREAT DICTIONARIES OF THE POLISH LANGUAGE: RECONNAISSANCE: PART 1 Nine centuries of Polish-Jewish contacts in all spheres of life left a mark in Polish. The author of the article decided to check how significant and how durable this trace is, looking in the great dictionaries of the Polish language for units considered as carriers of memory of Jews. The author asks the question which prejudges the fact that a certain unit of language can be considered as a carrier of the memory of Jews and wonders in which linguistic forms this Jewish element can be manifested in dictionaries. The initial analysis included 240 carriers of memory (“verbal judaics”), sampled from journals, memoir literature and tourist guides edited after 2000, as well as two dictionaries intended for the mass audience: the Dictionary of Polish edited by M. Szymczak and Another Dictionary of Polish edited by M. Bańko. It turned out that these dictionaries recorded only 25% of the collected corps of verbal judaics, often depriving the definitions of these units of the Jewish component. The author reflects on the social consequences of this state of affairs and its relationship with the “collective narcissism” of the Polish society, and on the historical policy pursued by the Polish state.

Planetary Health: We Need to Talk about Narcissism

Concepts of planetary health attempt to collectively address the biological, psychological, social, and cultural factors contributing to “Anthropocene Syndrome”, which encompasses the many wicked interrelated challenges of our time. It is increasingly evident that the wide array of causative factors is underpinned by attitudes, values, and worldviews. Emerging research suggests that certain dispositions or ‘traits’—observable along the continuum from individuals to large groups—may be central to the promotion of health of all systems, at all scales. Here in this viewpoint, we focus on the personality trait of narcissism in the collective context of planetary health. First described in 1852 by pioneering psychiatrist Joseph Guislain, the Mania of Narcissus refers to ‘the patient infatuated with his beauty, his charms, his wit, dress, talents, and birth’. We argue that Guislain’s observations are not restricted to the clinical setting, and that a larger-scale narcissism can interfere with the principles of planetary health. We propose that increasing narcissism, at scales ranging from the individual to the collective, is an important consideration in attitudes and behaviors that undermine health along the continuum of person, place, and planet. Despite a growing body of research directed at collective narcissism, and the role that empathy plays in healthy relationships between humans and nature, it is our contention that the role of narcissism and empathy are important but neglected aspects of the planetary health agenda.