Their own worst enemy? Collective narcissists are willing to conspire against their in-group

Avoidance coping explains the link between narcissism and counternormative tendencies

Previous research linked counternormative tendencies (e.g., conspiracy beliefs, cyberbullying, and catfishing) to narcissism-a personality trait characterized by difficulties in experiencing psychological threats. We argue that avoidance coping with stress favours attitudes and behaviours that allow for deflecting from stressful events and releasing one's stress at the expense of others. Thus, we hypothesized that avoidance coping might explain why narcissism favours counternormative tendencies. We conducted four studies (total N = 2643) in the United States and Poland to examine avoidance coping as a mediator of the relationship between narcissism and counternormative tendencies: conspiracy beliefs (Studies 1-4), willingness to conspire (Studies 2-4), cyberbullying (Studies 3-4) and catfishing (Study 4). All studies found a consistent positive indirect relationship between various forms of narcissism and counternormative tendencies via avoidance coping. These findings suggest that counternormative tendencies might reflect using maladaptive coping strategies.

Football Belongs to the People: A Social Identity Perspective on Attitudes Toward the European Super League in the English Premier League

The announcement of the European Super League (ESL) led to massive protests in England. While the ESL is officially being reshaped and may resurface, there is a dearth of empirical studies on the motives associated with attitudes toward the ESL. In this research, we explored attitudes toward the ESL among Premier League fans by conducting an online survey 36 hours after the ESL announcement (N = 1,346 fans of Premier League clubs, among which 832 fans of the Big Six clubs involved in the ESL). Fans of the Big Six held more positive attitudes toward the ESL compared to fans of the Other 14 Premier League clubs. However, fans of the Big Six also perceived the ESL as more threatening to their relationship with their team and reported less consumption intentions toward their clubs. From a social identity perspective, team narcissism among fans was positively linked to support for the ESL, primarily through glory hunting-a form of fair-weather fandom. In contrast, secure team identification was negatively related to ESL support. We discuss attractiveness of the ESL for team narcissists and the threat it represents for long-standing fans.

Morality, Social Inclusion, and In-Group Superiority: The Differential Role of Individualizing and Binding Foundations in Perceptions of the Social Identity of In-Group and Out-Group Members

Research into social identity and morality judgments typically focuses on how the former influences the latter. We approach this theme from the opposite direction, establishing the influence of morality on perceptions of social identity. In three studies, conducted in two cultures, we show that in-group members acting immorally are excluded from the group. Extending this investigation to the overlooked study of out-group-on-out-group behavior, in Studies 2 and 3, we compare perceptions of social inclusion for in-group members following (im)moral behavior toward the in-group with perceptions of out-group members following (im)moral behavior toward the out-group. We show that people treat in-group and out-group members alike with respect to binding morals, which concern preservation and protection of the group, but not individualizing morals, which concern preservation and protection of individual rights. Finally, in Study 3, we confirm the underlying motivating mechanism of reasserting in-group superiority by affirming the positive distinctiveness of one's own group.

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.

Double trouble: How sectarian and national narcissism relate differently to collective violence beliefs in Lebanon

Collective narcissism is a belief in ingroup greatness which is contingent on external validation. A lack of research on collective narcissism amongst non-Western contexts and minority groups remains a challenge for the field. However, here we test two types of collective narcissism (sectarian and national) as differential predictors of two dimensions of collective violence beliefs (against outgroup members and leaders) in a large, diverse, community sample from Lebanon (N = 778). We found that sectarian narcissism (narcissism related to smaller political and religious ingroup identity) predicted support for collective violence against members of different sects, while national narcissism predicted opposition to such collective violence. Neither form of collective narcissism had any significant relationship with collective violence against outgroup leaders. We controlled for both sectarian and national identification and found no significant effects in predicting either one of the two dimensions of collective violence beliefs. In this non-Western context, in which a coherent national identity is undermined by sectarianism, national narcissism seems to be a progressive motivator for unity and social change, while sectarian narcissism is rather associated with extreme attitudes, such as support for collective violence.

Shake it off! Adaptive coping with stress reduces national narcissism

Examining the role of coping with stress strategies in shaping national narcissism, we proposed that this type of defensive national commitment (stemming from psychological shortcomings) should be lowered by adaptive coping strategies. In Study 1 (longitudinal, N = 603), we found that higher adaptive (i.e. self-sufficient) coping attenuated national narcissism. In Study 2 (experimental, N = 337), the priming of adaptive coping significantly decreased national narcissism. We also demonstrated the indirect effects of the induced adaptive coping strategy on conspiracy beliefs via national narcissism. These findings suggest that using adaptive coping strategies (either dispositional or situationally induced) may attenuate national narcissism. We discuss the role of coping with stress in shaping group-level phenomena.

Generosity during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of collective narcissism

This study analyzes how a novel psychological factor-collective narcissism-affects giving behavior to national and international charities during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that collective narcissists tended to keep more resources for themselves or national charities while giving less to international charities. In line with the group threat theory, this tendency is more pronounced in countries with a high share of foreign population. Our findings suggest that the shared experience of the global COVID-19 public health crisis did not blur the boundaries between ingroups and outgroups for collective narcissists. These results imply that mitigating outgroup hostility associated with collective narcissism is critical to strengthening cross-national solidarity during unprecedented crises. However, more contact with foreign nationals might not reduce the negative impact of collective narcissism.

“‘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.