Agnieszka Golec De Zavala
Biographic Data
| ID | 215224 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Agnieszka Golec De Zavala |
| GIVEN NAMES | Agnieszka Golec |
| FAMILY NAME | De Zavala |
| SIGNATURE | DE ZAVALA A G |
| AFFILIATIONS | Goldsmiths University of London |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7631-9486 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 63 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 551 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 63 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 13 |
Collective Narcissism and Perceptions of the Severity of Racism Among White and Black Americans
What explains variation in Americans’ willingness to acknowledge racism? Across two studies, we examined how national and racial collective narcissism (CN), inflated concern with recognition of one’s ingroup, relates to reluctance to recognize racism among White and Black Americans. In Study 1, national CN predicted greater unawareness of racism, stronger beliefs that White Americans face more discrimination than Black Americans, and greater oppo…
A case of mistaken identity
Collective narcissism’s links with intergroup relations, such as intergroup hostility, are well established, but less is known about the intergroup conditions that trigger it. We experimentally examined whether categorisation threat—operationalised as mistaking the ingroup for a historically rivalrous outgroup, thus undermining the ingroup’s uniqueness—heightens collective narcissism, and whether this, in turn, escalates hostility toward the pert…
Rebels without a cause
In this paper, we examine the relationship between collective and individual forms of narcissism and two contrarian political orientations that are oppositional and purposefully destructive—need for chaos and anti‐establishment orientation. In three studies (total N = 4144), we demonstrate that (1) national collective narcissism independently predicts higher need for chaos and anti‐establishment orientation, (2) non‐narcissistic ingroup satisfact…
Narcissism of Science Denial
Amid historically low societal trust in science, four cross‐sectional studies ( N = 3856) reveal a link between generic science denial and national narcissism. The findings support the pre‐registered hypotheses that (1) national narcissism (a desire for national recognition) and ingroup satisfaction (pride in national value) have opposite unique associations with science denial (rejection of scientific consensus and generalized suspicion toward s…
Collective narcissism of White supremacy and minority resistance
In four cross-sectional studies ( N = 2,228; three preregistered), we hypothesized and found that U.S. American and White collective narcissism is associated with opposition to racial equality, whereas racial collective narcissism among Blacks and Latinx in the United States (US) is associated with support for racial equality. In Studies 1 and 2, American national and White racial collective narcissism was positively associated with support for s…
Conservative Catholicism and Instrumental Violence Against Animals. The Role of Religious Practices, Beliefs, and Collective Narcissism
Authoritarians and “revolutionaries in reverse”
Collective narcissism is a belief that the ingroup deserves but is denied special treatment and recognition. It is a projection of the narcissistic need to be recognized as better than others on the social level of the self. It is an aspect of ingroup identification, one of the ways group members favour their ingroup. National narcissism is associated with collective narcissism of advantaged national subgroups (e.g., Whites, men). National collec…
Unpacking the Relationship Between Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Religiosity in Poland
Replication data and code for "Unpacking the Relationship Between Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Religiosity in Poland: A Panel Analysis
Gender and National Collective Narcissism
To elucidate how ingroup identification is implicated in attitudes towards gender equality, it is important to consider that (1) people simultaneously identify with more (a nation) vs. less abstract groups (gender), and (2) gender collective narcissism is the specific aspect of ingroup identification likely to inspire opposite attitudes towards gender equality among men (negative) and women (positive), but (3) national narcissism is likely to ali…
The Pleasure of Revenge Predicts Both Vengeful and Benevolent Motivations Toward the Provocateur
Three studies ( N = 860) examined whether the pleasure of revenge predicts both vengeful and benevolent motivations toward the provocateur. Across all studies, self‐reported positive affect was higher, whereas self‐reported negative affect was lower after an instance of revenge. Furthermore, the revenge‐related positive affect predicted greater subsequent vengeful and benevolent motivations toward the provocateur (but more consistently the former…
Born This Way? National Collective Narcissism, Implicit Homophobia, and Homosexual Essentialism in Populist Poland
Prejudice toward the LGBT community has become prevalent in Poland under the ultraconservative populist government. The results of three studies conducted between 2018 and 2019 ( N 1 = 879, N 2 = 324, and N 3 = 374) indicate that Polish collective narcissism—the belief that the exaggerated greatness of the nation is not recognized by others—is associated with implicit homophobia assessed as the intuitive disapproval of gay men and automatic evalu…
The Father’s Love
Recent allegations that Pope John Paul II turned a blind eye to clergy sexual abuse as archbishop and pope have ignited much controversy in Poland. In this study, we utilize data from an original representative survey of Polish adults to examine predictors of defensive political reactions to these allegations. We hypothesized that national and Catholic collective narcissism (an exaggerated belief in in-group greatness that requires consistent ext…
Revolutionaries in reverse
The straightforward account of the association between collective narcissism and political orientation is complicated by the fact that collective narcissists in advantaged and disadvantaged groups embrace different worldviews: anti-egalitarian and conservative vs. egalitarian and liberal, respectively. National collective narcissism and collective narcissism in advantaged groups, however, are systematically related to political conservatism and r…
Collective narcissism and pursuit of equality
Collective narcissism predicts opposite attitudes toward equality in historically advantaged and disadvantaged groups. In disadvantaged groups, it predicts egalitarian worldview and rejection of beliefs legitimizing inequality. It also predicts political activism: engagement in or intentions to engage in collective action for advancement of the disadvantaged ingroup. In advantaged groups, it predicts endorsement of beliefs justifying inequality a…
Collective narcissism and prejudice
This chapter reviews the ample evidence pointing to the alignment of the associations between national collective narcissism and advantaged groups’ collective narcissism (White, male, heterosexual) with prejudice toward disadvantaged groups (racial minorities, women, sexual minorities). Prejudice is biased, emotionally laden belief that justifies discrimination and inequality. Collective narcissism predicts double standards in judging what action…
National narcissism, nationalism, and patriotism
This chapter compares and contrasts concepts of patriotism, nationalism, and national collective narcissism. Although collective narcissism may refer to any social identity, studies that examined collective narcissism with reference to the nation advance our understanding of the relationship between patriotism and nationalism. Patriotism, nationalism, and national collective narcissism all stem from national identification. While national collect…
Collective narcissism of populism
This chapter discusses how national collective narcissism is implicated in ultraconservative populism. It reviews findings linking national narcissism to voters’ support for populist politicians, parties, and policies as well as some aspects of populism such as science skepticism, climate change denial, and medical populism that affected reactions to COVID19 pandemic. As a belief about national identity, collective narcissism offers an attractive…
“To the point of irrationality”
The association between collective narcissism and conspiracy theories is robust and comprises conspiracy theories of very varied, often contradictory content. Collective narcissism predicts a generic conspiratorial mindset, a content-free predisposition to seek hidden patterns and secretive plots. This association illustrates collective narcissism as motivated social cognition. It allows interpreting collective narcissism as an investment in the …
Collective narcissism and social exclusion
People experience pain and distress when they are excluded by others. They also experience vicarious distress when they recognize that someone else is excluded. Collective narcissism renders such vicarious ostracism parochial. At high levels of collective narcissism, people become overly preoccupied by exclusion of their ingroup, but they are not bothered by exclusion of other groups. Collective narcissism reliably predicts distress when group me…
“Dark side of ingroup love”
Ingroup identification – the extent to which the group membership is psychologically affecting and socially consequential – is a multifaceted phenomenon. It comprises cognitive, evaluative, and motivational aspects of group membership. Against the background of this literature, collective narcissism is best understood as a specific form of positive evaluation of the ingroup: contingent on its external recognition and laden with resentment for und…
Collective narcissism, intergroup threat, and intergroup hate
Collective narcissism is a robust predictor of hostility and coercion in intergroup contexts. It predicts intergroup aggression, support for political extremism and violence, and endorsement of terrorist measures among radicalized groups. Collective narcissism is associated with an antagonistic mindset that contributes to chronic perception of ingroup as besieged by hostility of others and perpetuation of intergroup conflicts. This mindset is cha…
How does narcissism become collective?
This chapter discusses the differences between the concepts of individual and collective narcissism. It argues that while individual narcissism is robustly associated with interpersonal antagonism, hostility and violence, collective narcissism robustly predict intergroup antagonism and prejudice. The chapter discusses the different ways in which narcissistic dynamic can become collective: (1) by collective increase of narcissistic features; (2) c…
Collective Narcissism as a Basis for Nationalism
Recent work suggests that collective narcissism—an exaggerated, unrealistic belief in an ingroup's greatness that demands constant external validation—is a strong predictor of a variety of political attitudes. In the present study, we use nationally representative panel data from Poland to examine the relationship between national collective narcissism and nationalism, a belief that the national ingroup is superior and should dominate other natio…
The Psychology of Collective Narcissism
The Psychology of Collective Narcissism is a ground-breaking text that presents a new theory of collective narcissism, a belief that exaggerated greatness of one's own group should be but is not sufficiently appreciated by others. The book presents this concept against the background of social identity theory and research. It explores antecedent as well as social and political consequences of collective narcissism. The author discusses how this b…
Collective Narcissism and Perceptions of the (Il)legitimacy of the 2020 US Election
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.…
Collective narcissism and its social consequences
This article introduces the concept of collective narcissism--an emotional investment in an unrealistic belief about the in group's greatness--aiming to explain how feelings about an ingroup shape a tendency to aggress against outgroups. The results of 5 studies indicate that collective, but not individual, narcissism predicts intergroup aggressiveness. Collective narcissism is related to high private and low public collective self-esteem and low…
Collective Narcissism
This article proposes a new theoretical framework for the reviewed state-of-the-art research on collective narcissism-the belief that the ingroup's exceptionality is not sufficiently appreciated by others. Collective narcissism is motivated by the investment of an undermined sense of self-esteem into the belief in the ingroup's entitlement to privilege. Collective narcissism lies in the heart of populist rhetoric. The belief in ingroup's exceptio…
They will not control us
This research examined the role of different forms of positive regard for the ingroup in predicting beliefs in intergroup conspiracies. Collective narcissism reflects a belief in ingroup greatness contingent on others' recognition. We hypothesized that collective narcissism should be especially likely to foster outgroup conspiracy beliefs. Non-narcissistic ingroup positivity, on the other hand, should predict a weaker tendency to believe in consp…
Collective Narcissism and the 2016 US Presidential Vote
Explaining support for Donald Trump's presidential candidacy has become a key social-science challenge. An emerging literature highlights several important individual-level precursors of Trump support, including racial attitudes, sexism, and authoritarianism. In this report, we provide evidence for the role of a novel psychological factor: collective narcissism, an inflated, unrealistic view of the national ingroup's greatness contingent on exter…
Collective narcissism and anti-Semitism in Poland
Two studies examined the relationship between collective narcissism—an emotional investment in an unrealistic belief about the greatness of an in-group (Golec de Zavala, Cichocka, Eidelson, & Jayawickreme, 2009) — and anti-Semitism in Poland. The results indicate that this relationship is simultaneously mediated by (a) a belief that the in-group is constantly threatened by hostile intentions of other groups (Polish siege beliefs; Bar-Tal & Antebi…
Political Conservatism, Need for Cognitive Closure, and Intergroup Hostility
Two studies examined the interaction of political conservatism and the need for cognitive closure in predicting aggressiveness in intergroup conflict and hostility toward out-groups. In the first study, Polish participants indicated their preference for coercive conflict strategies in the context of a real-life intergroup conflict. Only among participants who identify themselves as conservative, need for cognitive closure was positively and signi…
Collective narcissism as a framework for understanding populism
Research on national collective narcissism, the belief and resentment that a nation's exceptionality is not sufficiently recognized by others, provides a theoretical framework for understanding the psychological motivations behind the support for right-wing populism. It bridges the findings regarding the economic and sociocultural conditions implicated in the rise of right-wing populism and the findings regarding leadership processes necessary fo…
Collective narcissism and the growth of conspiracy thinking over the course of the 2016 United States presidential election
Using data from a longitudinal study of American adults collected between July and November 2016, we examine the hypothesis that American collective narcissism (CN) would uniquely predict increases in conspiracy thinking during the 2016 presidential campaign. Going beyond previous findings, our results indicate that CN (but not in‐group identification) predicted growth in general conspiracy thinking—that is, a tendency to view political events in…
Collective narcissism moderates the effect of in-group image threat on intergroup hostility
Results of 4 experiments demonstrated that under in-group image threat collective narcissism predicts retaliatory intergroup hostility. Under in-group criticism (vs. praise) collective narcissists expressed intention to harm the offending out-group but not other, nonoffending out-groups. This effect was specific to collective narcissism and was replicated in studies that accounted for the overlap between collective narcissism and individual narci…
Collective Narcissism as a Basis for Nationalism
Recent work suggests that collective narcissism—an exaggerated, unrealistic belief in an ingroup's greatness that demands constant external validation—is a strong predictor of a variety of political attitudes. In the present study, we use nationally representative panel data from Poland to examine the relationship between national collective narcissism and nationalism, a belief that the national ingroup is superior and should dominate other natio…
Male, National, and Religious Collective Narcissism Predict Sexism
Results of three cross-sectional studies indicate that sexism in Poland is associated with collective narcissism—a belief that one’s own group’s (the in-group’s) exaggerated exceptionality is not sufficiently recognized by others—with reference to three social identities: male, religious, and national. In Study 1 ( n = 329), male collective narcissism was associated with sexism. This relationship was sequentially mediated by precarious manhood an…
The Psychology of Collective Narcissism
The Psychology of Collective Narcissism is a ground-breaking text that presents a new theory of collective narcissism, a belief that exaggerated greatness of one's own group should be but is not sufficiently appreciated by others. The book presents this concept against the background of social identity theory and research. It explores antecedent as well as social and political consequences of collective narcissism. The author discusses how this b…
Need for Cognitive Closure and Conservative Political Beliefs
The paper investigates the relationships between motivated social cognition (need for cognitive closure), personal worldviews (traditional, modern, or postmodern), and conservative political beliefs. The relationships were analyzed in a sample of 189 Polish adults. High need for closure was associated with support for both traditional and modern worldviews. Although different in content (i.e., endorsing different values and assumptions about the …
Understanding Responses to Political Conflict
Two studies examined the relationship between the need for cognitive closure and preferences for conflict-resolution strategies in 2 different samples of elite political actors. Although research has suggested that high need for closure should be associated with competitiveness, the authors argue that this relationship should be strongest among political actors with a hostile conflict schema, or representation of what a conflict is and how it sho…
Social identity threat across group status
Findings highlight the importance of exploring the narcissistic component of positive ingroup evaluation to provide a more nuanced understanding of the relationships between social identity threat and personal well-being, as well as intergroup bias. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
An intergroup approach to collective narcissism
Although it is known that collective narcissism is associated with problematic intergroup relations, its predictors are less well understood. Two studies, conducted in four European Union countries (Germany, Greece, Portugal, the United Kingdom [UK]), tested the hypotheses that integrated (i.e., realistic and symbolic) threat (Study 1, N = 936) as well as distinctiveness threat (Study 2, N = 434) positively predict national collective narcissism …
Authoritarians and “revolutionaries in reverse”
Collective narcissism is a belief that the ingroup deserves but is denied special treatment and recognition. It is a projection of the narcissistic need to be recognized as better than others on the social level of the self. It is an aspect of ingroup identification, one of the ways group members favour their ingroup. National narcissism is associated with collective narcissism of advantaged national subgroups (e.g., Whites, men). National collec…
The Covid-19 pandemic, authoritarianism, and rejection of sexual dissenters in Poland
In Poland, gender hierarchy restricting women’s sexuality and hetero-normativity are rooted in traditional ‘family values’ supported by the teachings of the Polish Catholic Church and attached to Polish national identity. Dissenters to traditional norms regulating gender and sexual relations are rejected as threat to social order and national unity. Latent growth curve modeling performed on data from a three-wave longitudinal study indicated line…
Homophobia and national collective narcissism in populist Poland
Opposition to sexual minority rights in Poland is among the highest in the EU. Populist political actors in the country repeatedly scapegoat gays and lesbians, presenting them as a threat to the Polish nation and its shared norms and values, particularly those derived from religion. Building upon previous research which shows how discourse constructing homosexuality as a threat to the nation has been used by social and political actors to legitim…
Threats to Feminist Identity and Reactions to Gender Discrimination
The aim of this research was to examine conditions that modify feminists' support for women as targets of gender discrimination. In an experimental study we tested a hypothesis that threatened feminist identity will lead to greater differentiation between feminists and conservative women as victims of discrimination and, in turn, a decrease in support for non-feminist victims. The study was conducted among 96 young Polish female professionals and…
Sociocultural Differences in Self-Construal and Subjective Well-Being
In this study, the authors tested four cultural models-independence, interdependence, conflict, and integration-that describe the hypothesized relationships between dimensions of self-construal and components of subjective well-being among individualistic and collectivistic countries. Collectivistic countries that have undergone rapid socioeconomic changes (i.e., East Asian countries) and those with limited changes (i.e., African countries) were …
Conditional Parochial Vicarious Ostracism
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 posi…
Cognitive Skills as Predictor of Attitudes Toward Political Conflict
The relationship between cognitive development and attitudes toward a current political conflict was examined in a sample of 46 Polish politicians. This relationship was examined in a control group in a neutral condition and in an experimental group after participants were presented with a hostile attack on their position on the conflict. Politicians with less advanced cognitive skills tended to use competitive attitudes in both conditions. In co…
Prejudice towards gay men and a need for physical cleansing
Need for closure and competition in intergroup conflicts
Three experimental studies demonstrate that momentarily accessible conflict‐schemas moderate the relationship between need for closure and conflict‐strategy preferences, with the relationship between a high need for closure and increased competitiveness reduced to non‐significance when a cooperative conflict‐schema is made salient but strengthened when a hostile one is activated. Study 1 manipulated the accessibility of competitive versus coopera…
Cognitive Skills as Predictor of Attitudes Toward Political Conflict
The relationship between cognitive development and attitudes toward a current political conflict was examined in a sample of 46 Polish politicians. This relationship was examined in a control group in a neutral condition and in an experimental group after participants were presented with a hostile attack on their position on the conflict. Politicians with less advanced cognitive skills tended to use competitive attitudes in both conditions. In co…
Understanding Responses to Political Conflict
Two studies examined the relationship between the need for cognitive closure and preferences for conflict-resolution strategies in 2 different samples of elite political actors. Although research has suggested that high need for closure should be associated with competitiveness, the authors argue that this relationship should be strongest among political actors with a hostile conflict schema, or representation of what a conflict is and how it sho…
Need for Cognitive Closure and Conservative Political Beliefs
The paper investigates the relationships between motivated social cognition (need for cognitive closure), personal worldviews (traditional, modern, or postmodern), and conservative political beliefs. The relationships were analyzed in a sample of 189 Polish adults. High need for closure was associated with support for both traditional and modern worldviews. Although different in content (i.e., endorsing different values and assumptions about the …
Need for closure and competition in intergroup conflicts
Three experimental studies demonstrate that momentarily accessible conflict‐schemas moderate the relationship between need for closure and conflict‐strategy preferences, with the relationship between a high need for closure and increased competitiveness reduced to non‐significance when a cooperative conflict‐schema is made salient but strengthened when a hostile one is activated. Study 1 manipulated the accessibility of competitive versus coopera…
Collective narcissism and its social consequences
This article introduces the concept of collective narcissism--an emotional investment in an unrealistic belief about the in group's greatness--aiming to explain how feelings about an ingroup shape a tendency to aggress against outgroups. The results of 5 studies indicate that collective, but not individual, narcissism predicts intergroup aggressiveness. Collective narcissism is related to high private and low public collective self-esteem and low…
Stereotyped images of terrorists as predictors of fear of future terrorist attacks
Three studies examine how al Qaeda terrorists are perceived by Polish participants and how these perceptions are related to emotional reactions to terrorism and support for counter‐terrorism measures, such as the installation of the American National Missile Defence (NMD) system in Poland. In study 1 we combine qualitative and quantitative approach to test the terrorist perception and identify four images of al Qaeda terrorists: psychopathic crim…
Political Conservatism, Need for Cognitive Closure, and Intergroup Hostility
Two studies examined the interaction of political conservatism and the need for cognitive closure in predicting aggressiveness in intergroup conflict and hostility toward out-groups. In the first study, Polish participants indicated their preference for coercive conflict strategies in the context of a real-life intergroup conflict. Only among participants who identify themselves as conservative, need for cognitive closure was positively and signi…
The Psychology of Politicians
The Psychology of Politicians explores a topic which fuels public and media debate yet is under-researched and has potentially far-reaching consequences for the success of our political systems. Focusing on research with democratically elected representatives from the UK, Poland and Italy, and on the political behaviour of a former US President and voters' perceptions in the emerging democracy of Ukraine, this book is packed with psychological in…
Collective narcissism and anti-Semitism in Poland
Two studies examined the relationship between collective narcissism—an emotional investment in an unrealistic belief about the greatness of an in-group (Golec de Zavala, Cichocka, Eidelson, & Jayawickreme, 2009) — and anti-Semitism in Poland. The results indicate that this relationship is simultaneously mediated by (a) a belief that the in-group is constantly threatened by hostile intentions of other groups (Polish siege beliefs; Bar-Tal & Antebi…
Correspondence between images of terrorists and preferred approaches to counterterrorism
Two studies examined the moderating effects of right wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation on the relationship between terrorist images (soldiers versus criminals) and preference for counterterrorist actions (military aggression versus criminal prosecution). Study 1 indicated that the perception of Al‐Qaeda terrorists as soldiers was related to preference for military counterterrorism, especially among people high in social domin…
Sociocultural Differences in Self-Construal and Subjective Well-Being
In this study, the authors tested four cultural models-independence, interdependence, conflict, and integration-that describe the hypothesized relationships between dimensions of self-construal and components of subjective well-being among individualistic and collectivistic countries. Collectivistic countries that have undergone rapid socioeconomic changes (i.e., East Asian countries) and those with limited changes (i.e., African countries) were …
Intrinsic religiosity reduces intergroup hostility under mortality salience
Results of three studies indicate that intrinsic religiosity and mortality salience interact to predict intergroup hostility. Study 1, conducted among 200 American Christians and Jews, reveals that under mortality salience, intrinsic (but not extrinsic or quest) religiosity is related to decreased support for aggressive counterterrorism. Study 2, conducted among 148 Muslims in Iran, demonstrates that intrinsic religiosity predicts decreased out‐g…
The Paradox of In‐Group Love
OBJECTIVE: The present studies test the hypothesis that the overlap between collective narcissism and positive in-group identification conceals the opposite relationships these variables have with out-group derogation. METHOD: Five surveys were conducted in different cultural and national contexts, using different samples and different intergroup contexts (Study 1, Polish student sample, N = 85; Study 2, British student sample, N = 81; Study 3, P…
Threats to Feminist Identity and Reactions to Gender Discrimination
The aim of this research was to examine conditions that modify feminists' support for women as targets of gender discrimination. In an experimental study we tested a hypothesis that threatened feminist identity will lead to greater differentiation between feminists and conservative women as victims of discrimination and, in turn, a decrease in support for non-feminist victims. The study was conducted among 96 young Polish female professionals and…
Collective narcissism moderates the effect of in-group image threat on intergroup hostility
Results of 4 experiments demonstrated that under in-group image threat collective narcissism predicts retaliatory intergroup hostility. Under in-group criticism (vs. praise) collective narcissists expressed intention to harm the offending out-group but not other, nonoffending out-groups. This effect was specific to collective narcissism and was replicated in studies that accounted for the overlap between collective narcissism and individual narci…
An Experimental Study of the Influence of Limited Time Horizon on Positivity Effects among Young Adults Using Eye-Tracking
Compared to younger adults, older adults attend more to positive stimuli, a positivity effect. Older adults have limited time horizons, and they focus on maintaining positive affect, whereas younger adults have unlimited time horizons, and they focus on acquiring knowledge and developing skills. Time horizons were manipulated by asking participants (66 young adults, M age = 20.5 yr., SD = 1.2) to think that their lives would end in three years. S…
Prejudice towards gay men and a need for physical cleansing
Does Self-Love or Self-Hate Predict Conspiracy Beliefs? Narcissism, Self-Esteem, and the Endorsement of Conspiracy Theories
Across three studies, we examined the role of self-evaluation in predicting conspiracy beliefs. Previous research linked the endorsement of conspiracy theories to low self-esteem. We propose that conspiracy theories should rather be appealing to individuals with exaggerated feelings of self-love, such as narcissists, due to their paranoid tendencies. In Study 1, general conspiracist beliefs were predicted by high individual narcissism but low sel…
Collective Narcissism Predicts Hypersensitivity to In–group Insult and Direct and Indirect Retaliatory Intergroup Hostility
Results of five studies (N = 1596) linked collective narcissism—a belief in in–group exaggerated greatness contingent on external validation—to direct and indirect, retaliatory hostility in response to situations that collective narcissists perceived as insulting to the in–group but which fell well beyond the definition of an insult. In Turkey, collective narcissists responded with schadenfreude to the European economic crisis after feeling humil…
They will not control us
This research examined the role of different forms of positive regard for the ingroup in predicting beliefs in intergroup conspiracies. Collective narcissism reflects a belief in ingroup greatness contingent on others' recognition. We hypothesized that collective narcissism should be especially likely to foster outgroup conspiracy beliefs. Non-narcissistic ingroup positivity, on the other hand, should predict a weaker tendency to believe in consp…
The Relationship between the Brexit Vote and Individual Predictors of Prejudice
The Leave campaign in the U.K., which advocated exiting the European Union, emphasized anxiety over immigration and the need to take control of the U.K.'s borders. Citizens who expressed concerns about immigration to the U.K. were more likely to vote to leave. Two correlational studies examined the previously unexplored question of whether the Brexit vote and support for the outcome of the E.U. referendum were linked to individual predictors of p…
Personal control decreases narcissistic but increases non‐narcissistic in‐group positivity
Objective We examined the effects of control motivation on in‐group positivity. Past research suggests that people compensate for low personal control by increasing support for social in‐groups. We predicted that the effect of personal control on in‐group positivity would depend on the type of in‐group positivity. Low personal control should increase compensatory, narcissistic in‐group positivity, whereas high personal control should increase sec…
Collective narcissism and the growth of conspiracy thinking over the course of the 2016 United States presidential election
Using data from a longitudinal study of American adults collected between July and November 2016, we examine the hypothesis that American collective narcissism (CN) would uniquely predict increases in conspiracy thinking during the 2016 presidential campaign. Going beyond previous findings, our results indicate that CN (but not in‐group identification) predicted growth in general conspiracy thinking—that is, a tendency to view political events in…
Collective Narcissism and the 2016 US Presidential Vote
Explaining support for Donald Trump's presidential candidacy has become a key social-science challenge. An emerging literature highlights several important individual-level precursors of Trump support, including racial attitudes, sexism, and authoritarianism. In this report, we provide evidence for the role of a novel psychological factor: collective narcissism, an inflated, unrealistic view of the national ingroup's greatness contingent on exter…
Collective Narcissism
This article proposes a new theoretical framework for the reviewed state-of-the-art research on collective narcissism-the belief that the ingroup's exceptionality is not sufficiently appreciated by others. Collective narcissism is motivated by the investment of an undermined sense of self-esteem into the belief in the ingroup's entitlement to privilege. Collective narcissism lies in the heart of populist rhetoric. The belief in ingroup's exceptio…
Psychology (53 works) · Social Psychology (51 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (40 works) · Narcissism (37 works) · Political science (30 works) · Personality Traits and Psychology (26 works) · Politics (25 works) · Social Psychology (24 works) · Law (19 works) · Sociology (13 works)