Psychological entitlement and conspiracy beliefs: evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic

Psychological entitlement describes the dispositional tendency to claim excessive and unearned rewards and resources, and to demand undeserved special treatment. In one experiment, one cross-sectional survey, and one time-separated survey (total n = 721), we show that psychological entitlement is associated with general conspiracy theory endorsement, COVID-19 specific conspiracy theory endorsement, and conspiracy theorizing as an overarching cognitive style. We find those high in entitlement are more likely to report having made discretionary visits to non-essential venues and services (e.g. buffets, spas, casinos) during the pandemic, and that these risky public health behaviors are mediated through beliefs in conspiracy theories. We identify consequences for public health behavior and conclude with a research agenda for better understanding the underlying mechanisms linking entitlement and conspiracy beliefs.

Post-traumatic Growth: The Roles of the Sense of Entitlement, Gratitude and hope

People believe that they are entitled to well-being and safety, and their responses to unexpected traumatic events reveal individual differences. Their reactions vary, from feeling blocked and distressed to feeling proactive towards new growth, depending on their personal resources. The current study sought to identify the role of entitlement in explaining post-traumatic growth (PTG) while considering the role of gratitude and hope as personal resources. We used a community-based sample of Israeli adults (n = 182) who reported experiencing a traumatic event during the preceding year. The relationships between PTG and their sense of entitlement, gratitude, and hope were examined. A stepwise multiple hierarchical regression revealed that all the three variables were associated with PTG. However, the effect of hope turned insignificant with the inclusion of sense of entitlement and gratitude in the regression. Sense of entitlement and gratitude were independently associated with PTG. The theoretical contribution of these findings is discussed, as well as their interventional implications and future directions.

Signaling High Sensitivity to Influence Others: Initial Evidence for the Roles of Reinforcement Sensitivity, Sensory Processing Sensitivity, and the Dark Triad

Signaling high sensitivity to others may help individuals with heightened sensitivity to stimuli to craft their social relations to a preferred activation level ("assertive signaling of specific needs" hypothesis). Signaling sensitivity could be also a deceptive strategy helping to extract resources or obtain the desired treatment ("deceptive signaling" hypothesis). The study presents the construction of the measure of signaling high sensitivity to influence others and an initial test of both hypotheses. Two hundred and one participants ranging in age from 18 to 67 (M = 25.6; SD = 7.03) reported on their reinforcement sensitivity (behavioral approach and inhibition system), sensory processing sensitivity, and the Dark Triad. Signaling high sensitivity to influence others was weakly, but significantly, associated with behavioral inhibition system sensitivity, which was consistent with the "assertive signaling of specific needs" hypothesis. The behavioral approach system was positively correlated with signaling high sensitivity, which indicated that this influence strategy could be treated as an assertive self-presentational strategy helping in achieving social rewards for individuals with high reward responsiveness. Narcissism and psychopathy accounted for an additional amount of variance in signaling high sensitivity over and beyond reinforcement sensitivity. This was consistent with the "deceptive signaling" hypothesis. Signaling high sensitivity could be regarded as a strategy to achieve social goals using deception rather than as an expression of sensitive personality.

A Self-Presentational Account of Entitlement: Entitlement Relates to Strategically Portraying Entitled Identities

Although entitlement is important for understanding antisocial behavior, personality dysfunction, and personality malevolence, little evidence exists on how entitlement relates to processes that could theoretically maintain and cultivate it. In line with a self-presentation conceptualization, we speculated that entitlement probably entails the cultivation and maintenance of various identities that generally occasion better treatment from audiences. This self-presentation conceptualization of entitlement has rarely been tested, and the evidence is inconclusive. To provide a more conclusive test, participants (N = 247) completed self-report indices of 6 entitlement features—from three different multidimensional models—and self-reported their past use of various self-presentation tactics. These self-presentation tactics are used to convey distinct identities (e.g., accomplished, threatening, superior) that generally garner better treatment from audiences. Exploratory factor analysis suggested the 6 entitlement indicators were composed of a single entitlement factor; generally, consistent with the self-presentation conceptualization, this entitlement factor related to more use of all the self-presentation tactics except benevolent tactics (apologies and exemplification) and supplication. Moreover, each entitlement indicator showed an approximately similar pattern of relations to the self-presentation tactics, suggesting they all share a similar approach to self-presentation. Hence, the findings are consistent with conceptualizing entitlement and its various features as including the strategic maintenance of identities that should occasion entitled treatment; such findings may have implications for understanding the foundations of entitlement.

Supplemental materials are available here: https://files.press.uillinois.edu/journals/supplemental/ajp/hart/index.html

The Role of Gendered Entitlement in Understanding Inequality in the Bedroom

Five studies (using U.S. samples) examined whether men’s higher entitlement contributes to a sexual pleasure gap that disadvantages women. Participants indicated that men receive more sexual pleasure from their partners, whereas women provide more pleasure (Study 1a). Participants believed that men have more of a right to experience orgasm in both hook-up and relationship encounters and attributed higher negative affect to the male target than to the female target when the target did not experience an orgasm in a sexual scenario (Study 1b). In concert with the idea that pleasure is a privilege that men are perceived as being more entitled to, participants preferred men’s orgasm when forced to choose between the male and the female partner in an orgasm allocation task (Study 1c) and in an experiment (Study 2). Study 3 examined why people believe that men are more entitled to pleasure than women. Men’s higher sense of entitlement as an obstacle to gender equality in sexuality is discussed.

Entitlement, Hope, and Life Satisfaction Among Mothers of Children with Developmental Disabilities

The interplay between sense of entitlement and hope might have a unique contribution to mothers of children with developmental disabilities (DD) life satisfaction. Seventy-three mothers of children with DD and 47 mothers of children without DD participated in the study. Mothers of children with DD (vs. without DD) experienced low levels of life satisfaction and high levels of entitlement. The relationship between being a mother of children with DD and life satisfaction was mediated by the interaction between sense of entitlement and hope. Higher entitlement was negatively related to life satisfaction when mothers' hope was low and positively related to life satisfaction when mothers' hope was high. Entitlement can act as a resource for life satisfaction, depending on hope levels.

The Dark Side of Organizational Identification: A Multi-Study Investigation of Negative Outcomes

After more than two decades of research on the positive side of organizational identification, researchers have begun to realize that it also has a dark side that needs immediate consideration. With support from social identity theory, the current study sheds light on the understudied role of the dark side of organizational identification by investigating its indirect effects on (a) psychological entitlement, (b) unethical pro-organizational behavior, and (c) pro-social rule-breaking through externally motivated organizational citizenship behavior, taking leader–member exchange as a boundary condition. Two surveys were conducted to test the proposed moderated mediation model. Data for the study 1 was collected from employees (N = 356) working in the service sector (i.e., Universities, Banks and Telecommunication Organizations), whereas responses for study 2 were taken from employees (N = 259) working in the hospitality industry. A time-lagged research design was selected for both surveys to avoid common method bias. The results demonstrate that organizational identification leads to adverse outcomes in the form of psychological entitlement, pro-social rule-breaking and unethical pro-organizational behavior through externally motivated organizational citizenship behavior. Furthermore, a high-quality leader–member exchange relationship enhances these indirect effects of organizational identification. Several theoretical and practical implications, along with limitations and future research directions, are also discussed.

Entitled Due to Deprivation vs. Superiority: Evidence That Unidimensional Entitlement Scales Blend Distinct Entitlement Rationales across Psychological Dimensions

We aimed to corroborate the notion that the Psychological Entitlement Scale (PES), a popular unidimensional index of psychological entitlement, resembles a blend of vulnerable- and grandiose-based entitlement rationales across various psychological dimensions. College participants (N = 523) were randomly assigned to complete either the PES or a recently validated, multidimensional adaptation of the PES that purports to assess entitlement due to deprivation (vulnerable-based entitlement; "PES-V") and superiority (grandiose-based entitlement; "PES-G") claims. Participants then completed a battery of psychological dimensions including: narcissism constructs, interpersonal vulnerability and mood pathology, psychological health, normal personality and personality-disorder traits, motivation systems, a deprived identity, and status aspiration. Profile-similarity indices indicated that PES was more similar to PES-G than PES-V across psychological dimensions. Likewise, additional analyses revealed that indicators of "narcissistic entitlement" exhibited stronger profile similarity to PES-G than PES-V across psychological dimensions. In conclusion, profiles of the PES and narcissistic entitlement appear to blend grandiose- and vulnerable-based entitlement, but grandiose-based (vs. vulnerable-based) entitlement seems more prominent in the blend. As a result, unidimensional measures can create a somewhat misleading portrait of the psychologically entitled.

Entitlement and organizational behaviors: the moderating role of narcissism

<b>Background</b><br /> The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between psychological entitlement (active, passive, and revenge), narcissism and two types of organizational behaviors in employees. Interactions between narcissism and psychological entitlement as predictors of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) and counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) were explored. Predictors were analyzed in an effort to determine whether psychological entitlement plays a more destructive role among narcissistic employees than among non-narcissistic ones and whether the effects of narcissism on OCB and CWB are mediated by entitlement.<br /> <br /> <b>Participants and procedure</b><br /> Data were obtained from 100 employees (34% men) aged 22 to 59 years (M = 37.00, SD = 9.30) from public and private companies. Participants were asked to complete the Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale (OCBS), the Counterproductive Organizational Behaviors Scale (COBS), the Entitlement Questionnaire, and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI).<br /> <br /> <b>Results</b><br /> Positive aspects of entitlement were positively associated with OCB only among narcissistic employees, and active entitlement mediated the effects of narcissism on CWB. Active entitlement was negatively related to CWB. Negative aspects of entitlement were negatively related to OCB and unrelated to CWB.<br /> <br /> <b>Conclusions</b><br /> This study provides evidence for positive (healthy) aspects of entitlement for organizations. The unexpected interaction between narcissism and entitlement in predicting higher levels of OCB suggests that among narcissistic employees, healthy aspects of entitlement are desirable and profitable for an organization. Psychological entitlement was observed to be an important predictor of organizational behaviors beyond narcissism itself.