Agnieszka Golec de Zavala

Collective Narcissism and its Social Consequences

This article introduces the concept of collective narcissism--an emotional investment in an unrealistic belief about the in groups 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 implicit group esteem. It predicts perceived threat from outgroups, unwillingness to forgive outgroups, preference for military aggression over and above social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, and blind patriotism. The relationship between collective narcissism and aggressiveness is mediated by perceived threat from outgroups and perceived insult to the ingroup. In sum, the results indicate that collective narcissism is a form of high but ambivalent group esteem related to sensitivity to threats to the ingroups image and retaliatory aggression.

The Paradox of In-Group Love: Differentiating Collective Narcissism Advances Understanding of the Relationship Between In-Group and Out-Group Attitudes

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, Polish representative sample, N = 979; Study 3, Polish student sample, N = 267 and Study 5, British student sample, N = 241). RESULTS The results of suppression analyses systematically indicate that when the positive relationship between collective narcissism and in-group positivity is controlled for, the non-narcissistic in-group positivity predicts less out-group negativity, whereas collective narcissism predicts more out-group derogation. CONCLUSIONS The results advance our understanding of constructive and destructive forms of in-group positivity and their different consequences for intergroup attitudes.

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, 1992a, 1992b) and (b) a belief that the Jews are a particularly threatening out-group because they secretly aim to dominate the world (the conspiracy stereotype of Jews; Bergmann, 2008; Kofta & Sędek, 2005). These results confirm that collective narcissism predicts prejudice against social groups perceived as threatening. Collective narcissists’ sensitivity to intergroup threat is composed of beliefs about vulnerability of the in-group and hostility of the out-group.

Sociocultural Differences in Self-Construal and Subjective Well-Being: A Test of Four Cultural Models

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 differentiated. Participants were 791 university students from four Western countries, 749 university students from three East Asian countries, and 443 university students from three African countries. Findings provided some support for the applicability of (a) the independence model to individuals from Western countries and (b) the integration model to individuals from East Asian countries. Mixed results were found among the African countries. The interdependence model is more applicable to African participants from the sub-Saharan region, but the integration model is more applicable to those from the North African region.

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 self-esteem. Study 2 demonstrated that these effects were differentially mediated by paranoid thoughts, and independent of the effects of collective narcissism. Individual narcissism predicted generalized conspiracist beliefs, regardless of the conspiracy theories implicating in-group or out-group members, while collective narcissism predicted belief in out-group but not in-group conspiracies. Study 3 replicated the effects of individual narcissism and self-esteem on the endorsement of various specific conspiracy theories and demonstrated that the negative effect of self-esteem was largely accounted for by the general negativity toward humans associated with low self-esteem.

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 narcissism, in-group positivity (in-group identification, blind and constructive patriotism), social dominance orientation, and right wing authoritarianism. The link between collective narcissism and retaliatory intergroup hostility under in-group image threat was found in the context of national identity and international relations and in the context of a social identity defined by university affiliation. Study 4 demonstrated that the relationship between collective narcissism and intergroup hostility was mediated by the perception of in-group criticism as personally threatening. The results advance our understanding of the mechanism driving the link between collective narcissism and intergroup hostility. They indicate that threatened egotism theory can be extended into the intergroup domain.

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 secure, non-narcissistic in-group positivity. METHOD These hypotheses were tested in a cross-sectional survey (Study 1 N = 1,083, 54% female, Mage  = 47.68), two experiments (Study 2 N = 105, 50% female, Mage  = 32.05; Study 3 N = 154, 40% female, Mage  = 29.93), and a longitudinal survey (Study 4 N = 398, 51% female, Mage  = 32.05). RESULTS In all studies, personal control was negatively associated with narcissistic in-group positivity but positively associated with non-narcissistic in-group positivity. The longitudinal survey additionally showed that the positive relationship between personal control and non-narcissistic in-group positivity was reciprocal. Moreover, both types of in-group positivity differentially mediated between personal control and out-group attitudes: Narcissistic in-group positivity predicted negative attitudes, and non-narcissistic positivity predicted positive attitudes. CONCLUSIONS These findings highlight the role of individual motivation in fostering different types of in-group positivity and intergroup outcomes.

The Relationship between the Brexit Vote and Individual Predictors of Prejudice: Collective Narcissism, Right Wing Authoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation

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 prejudice toward foreigners: British collective narcissism (a belief in national greatness), right wing authoritarianism, and social dominance orientation. The results converged to indicate that all three variables were independently related to the perceived threat of immigrants and, via this variable, to the Brexit vote and a support for the outcome of the E.U. referendum. These variables explained the variance in the perceived threat of immigrants and support for the Brexit vote over and above other previously examined predictors such as age, education, or ethnicity, as well as, national identification and national attachment.

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 humiliated by the Turkish wait to be admitted to the European Union (Study 1). In Portugal, they supported hostile actions towards Germans and rejoiced in the German economic crisis after perceiving Germanys position in the European Union as more important than the position of Portugal (Study 2). In Poland, they supported hostile actions towards the makers of a movie they found offensive to Poland (Studies 3 and 5) and responded with direct and indirect hostility towards a celebrity whose jokes about the Polish government they found offensive (Study 4). Comparisons with self–positivity and in–group positivity indices and predictors of intergroup hostility indicated that collective narcissism is the only systematic predictor of hypersensitivity to in–group insult followed by direct and indirect, retaliatory intergroup hostility. Copyright

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 criminals, strategists, ideologues and desperate combatants. The results of study 2 indicate that two images attributing irrationality to al Qaeda terrorists and unpredictability to their actions (psychopathic criminals and ideologues) are related to high perceived risk of future terrorist attacks, fear of terrorism and a tendency to catastrophize terrorism. Results of study 3 show that these two images are related to opposition towards NMD in Poland. Fear of terrorism mediates this relationship. The image of terrorists as rational strategists is not related to fear of terrorism and is related to positive attitudes towards installation of the NMD in Poland.