Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T16:48:31.144Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

13 - Collective Narcissism

How Being Narcissistic about Your Groups Shapes Politics, Group Processes, and Intergroup Relations

from Part II - The Politics of Intergroup Attitudes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2022

By
Irem Eker ,
Aleksandra Cichocka  and
Aleksandra Cislak
Edited by
Danny Osborne  and
Chris G. Sibley
Danny Osborne
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
Chris G. Sibley
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
Get access

Summary

Collective narcissism is a belief in the greatness of one’s social group, accompanied by a conviction that others do not appreciate the in-group enough. In this chapter, we review empirical studies which elucidate the antecedents and consequences of collective narcissism. Collective narcissism is thought to compensate for frustrated individual needs. Thus, those high in collective narcissism are more concerned with how their group reflects on them, rather than with caring for other in-group members. Accordingly, collective narcissism is associated with readiness to defend the in-group image from criticism but also using in-group members for personal gains. Furthermore, collective narcissism predicts negative out-group attitudes, extensive sensitivity to intergroup threats, conspiracy beliefs, intergroup hostility, and support for violent extremism. We discuss the implications of collective narcissism for voting and public policy, showing that it is associated with support for populist parties and politicians, anti-environmental policies as well as problematic public health policies.

Keywords

Collective narcissismPoliticsGroup processes
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Political Psychology , pp. 214 - 227
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abrams, D., & Hogg, M. A. (1988). Comments on the motivational status of self-esteem in social identity and intergroup discrimination. European Journal of Social Psychology, 18(4), 317–334. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420180403CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abramson, A. (2018, 18 September). Read the letter from Christine Blasey Ford’s lawyers requesting an FBI inquiry into Kavanaugh allegation. Time. https://time.com/5400239/christine-blasey-ford-investigation-letter/Google Scholar
Adorno, T. (1998). Critical models: Interventions and catchwords. Columbia University Press. (Original work published 1963)Google Scholar
Adorno, T., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D. J., & Sanford, R. N. (1950). The authoritarian personality. Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Amiot, C. E., & Sansfaçon, S. (2011). Motivations to identify with social groups: A look at their positive and negative consequences. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 15(2), 105–127. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0023158Google Scholar
Biddlestone, M., Cichocka, A., Główczewski, M., & Cislak, A. (2020). Their own worst enemy? Collective narcissists are willing to conspire against their in-group. [Manuscript submitted for publication].Google Scholar
Biddlestone, M., Cichocka, A., Žeželj, I., & Bilewicz, M. (2020). Conspiracy theories and intergroup relations. In Butter, M. & Knight, P. (Eds.), Routledge handbook of conspiracy theories (pp. 219–230). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429452734Google Scholar
Bocian, K., Cichocka, A., & Wojciszke, B. (2021). Moral tribalism: Moral judgments of actions supporting ingroup interests depend on collective narcissism. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 93, Article 104098. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2020.104098Google Scholar
Brummelman, E., Thomaes, S., & Sedikides, C. (2016). Separating self-esteem from narcissism. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25(1), 8–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721415619737CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cai, H., & Gries, P. (2013). National narcissism: Internal dimensions and international correlates. PsyCh Journal, 2(2), 122–132. https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.26Google Scholar
Cameron, J. E. (2004). A three-factor model of social identity. Self and Identity, 3(3), 239–262. https://doi.org/10.1080/13576500444000047Google Scholar
Cichocka, A. (2016). Understanding defensive and secure in-group positivity: The role of collective narcissism. European Review of Social Psychology, 27(1), 283–317. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2016.1252530Google Scholar
Cichocka, A., & Cislak, A. (2020). Nationalism as collective narcissism. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 34, 69–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2019.12.013Google Scholar
Cichocka, A., Cislak, A., Gronfeldt, B., Wojcik, A., & Winiewski, M. (in press). Can ingroup love harm the in-group? Collective narcissism and objectification of in-group members. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684302211038058Google Scholar
Cichocka, A., Cislak, A., Stronge, S., Osborne, D., & Sibley, C. (2019). Does high self-esteem foster narcissism? Testing the bidirectional relationships between self-esteem, narcissistic admiration and rivalry. Journal of Research in Personality, 83, Article 103882. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2019.103882CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cichocka, A., Golec de Zavala, A., Marchlewska, M., Bilewicz, M., Jaworska, M., & Olechowski, M. (2018). Personal control decreases narcissistic but increases non-narcissistic in-group positivity. Journal of Personality, 86(3), 465–480. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12328Google Scholar
Cichocka, A., Marchlewska, M., Golec de Zavala, A., & Olechowski, M. (2016). ‘They will not control us’: Ingroup positivity and belief in intergroup conspiracies. British Journal of Psychology, 107(3), 556–576. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12158CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cislak, A., Cichocka, A., Wojcik, A., & Milfont, T. (2021). Words not deeds: National identity and support for greenwashing policies versus genuine proenvironmental campaigns. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 74, Article 101576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101576Google Scholar
Cislak, A., Marchlewska, M., Wojcik, A., et al. (2021). National narcissism and support for voluntary vaccination policy: The mediating role of vaccination conspiracy beliefs. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 24(5), 701–719. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430220959451Google Scholar
Cislak, A., Pyrczak, M., Mikiewicz, A., & Cichocka, A. (2020). Brexit and Polexit: Collective narcissism is associated with the support for leaving the European Union. Social Psychological Bulletin, 15(1), Article e2645. https://doi.org/10.32872/spb.2645Google Scholar
Cislak, A., Wojcik, A. D., & Cichocka, A. (2018). Cutting the forest down to save your face: Narcissistic national identification predicts support for anti-conservation policies. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 59, 65–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2018.08.009Google Scholar
de Figueiredo, R. J. P., & Elkins, Z. (2003). Are patriots bigots? An inquiry into the vices of in-group pride. American Journal of Political Science, 47(1), 171–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-5907.00012Google Scholar
Dyduch-Hazar, K., Mrozinski, B., & Golec de Zavala, A. (2019). Collective narcissism and in-group satisfaction predict opposite attitudes toward refugees via attribution of hostility. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 1901. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01901CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eker, I., Cichocka, A., & Sibley, C. (2020). Investigating motivations underlying collective narcissism and in-group identification [Manuscript submitted for publication].Google Scholar
Ellemers, N., Spears, R., & Doosje, B. (1997). Sticking together or falling apart: In-group identification as a psychological determinant of group commitment versus individual mobility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(3), 617–626. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.72.3.617CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emmons, R. A. (1987). Narcissism: Theory and measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(1), 11–17. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.52.1.11CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Federico, C., & Golec de Zavala, A. (2018). Collective narcissism and the 2016 US presidential vote. Public Opinion Quarterly, 82(1), 110–121. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfx048Google Scholar
Forgas, J. P., & Lantos, D. (2019). Understanding populism: Collective narcissism and the collapse of democracy in Hungary. In Forgas, J. P., Fiedler, K., & Crano, W. (Eds.), Applications of social psychology: How social psychology can contribute solution of real-world problems (pp. 267–291). Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Fromm, E. (1973). The anatomy of human destructiveness. Pimlico/Random House.Google Scholar
Golec de Zavala, A. (2018). Collective narcissism: Antecedents and consequences of exaggeration of the in-group image. In Hermann, A., Brunell, A, & Foster, J. (Eds.), Handbook of trait narcissism: Key advances, research methods, and controversies (pp. 79–89). Springer.Google Scholar
Golec de Zavala, A., & Cichocka, A. (2012). Collective narcissism and anti-Semitism in Poland. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 15(2), 213–229. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430211420891Google Scholar
Golec de Zavala, A., Cichocka, A., & Bilewicz, M. (2013). The paradox of in-group love: Differentiating collective narcissism advances understanding of the relationship between in-group and out-group attitudes. Journal of Personality, 81(1), 16–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2012.00779.xGoogle Scholar
Golec de Zavala, A., Cichocka, A., Eidelson, R., & Jayawickreme, N. (2009). Collective narcissism and its social consequences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(6), 1074–1096. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016904CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golec de Zavala, A., Cichocka, A., & Iskra-Golec, I. (2013). Collective narcissism moderates the effect of in-group image threat on intergroup hostility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104(6), 1019–1039. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032215Google Scholar
Golec de Zavala, A., Dyduch-Hazar, K., & Lantos, D. (2019). Collective narcissism: Consequences of investing worth in the ingroup’s image. Advances in Political Psychology, 40(Suppl. 1), 37–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12569Google Scholar
Golec de Zavala, A., & Federico, C. (2018). Collective narcissism and the growth of conspiracy thinking over the 2016 United States presidential election: A longitudinal analysis. European Journal of Social Psychology, 48(7), 1011–1018. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2496Google Scholar
Golec de Zavala, A., Federico, C. M., Sedikides, C., et al. (2020). Low-self-esteem predicts out-group derogation via collective narcissism, but this relationship is obscured by in-group satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 119(3), 741–764. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000260Google Scholar
Golec de Zavala, A., Guerra, R., & Simao, C. (2017). The relationship between the Brexit vote and individual predictors of prejudice: Collective narcissism, right wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, Article 2023. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02023CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Golec de Zavala, A., Peker, M., Guerra, R., & Baran, T. (2016). Collective narcissism predicts hypersensitivity to in-group insult and direct and indirect retaliatory intergroup hostility. European Journal of Personality, 30(6), 532–551. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2067Google Scholar
Górska, P., Stefaniak, A., Malinowska, K., et al. (2019). Too great to act in solidarity: The negative relationship between collective narcissism and solidarity-based collective action. European Journal of Social Psychology, 50(3), 561–178. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2638Google Scholar
Gries, P., Sanders, M. A., Stroup, D. A., & Cai, H. (2015). Hollywood in China: How American popular culture shapes Chinese views of the ‘beautiful imperialist’ – an experimental analysis. The China Quarterly, 224, 1070–1082. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305741015000831Google Scholar
Gronfeldt, B., Cichocka, A., Cislak, A., Sternisko, A., & Eker, I. (2021, 4 July). A small price to pay: National narcissism predicts readiness to sacrifice in-group members to defend the in-group’s image. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/7fmrxGoogle Scholar
Gronfeldt, B., Cichocka, A., Cislak, A., & Wyatt, M. (2020, 23 September). Partisanship and political work: Differential associations of partisan identification and partisan narcissism with politicians’ skills and performance. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/ke4trGoogle Scholar
Guarascio, F. (2020, 27 March). EU says Britain had chance to join ventilator procurement scheme. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-britain-ventilator/eu-says-britain-had-chance-to-join-ventilator-procurement-scheme-idUSKBN21E2ICGoogle Scholar
Hamer, K., Penczek, M., & Bilewicz, M. (2018). Between universalistic and defensive forms of group attachment: The indirect effects of national identification on intergroup forgiveness. Personality and Individual Differences, 131, 15–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.03.052Google Scholar
Jasko, K., Webber, D., Kruglanski, A. W., et al. (2019). Social context moderates the effects of quest for significance on violent extremism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 118(6), 1165–1187. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000198Google Scholar
Johnson, B. (2020). PM speech in Greenwich: 3 February 2020 [Transcript]. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-in-greenwich-3-february-2020Google Scholar
Klar, Y., & Bilewicz, M. (2017). From socially motivated lay historians to lay censors: Epistemic conformity and defensive group identification. Memory Studies, 10(3), 334–346. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698017701616Google Scholar
Kosterman, R., & Feshbach, S. (1989). Toward a measure of patriotic and nationalistic attitudes. Political Psychology, 10(2), 257–274. https://doi.org/10.2307/3791647CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larkin, B., & Fink, J. S. (2019). Toward a better understanding of fan aggression and dysfunction: The moderating role of collective narcissism. Journal of Sport Management, 33(2), 69–78. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2018-0012Google Scholar
Leach, C. W., Spears, R., Branscombe, N. R., & Doosje, B. (2003). Malicious pleasure: Schadenfreude at the suffering of another group. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(5), 932–943. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.5.932Google Scholar
Leach, C. W., van Zomeren, M., Zebel, S., et al. (2008). Group-level self-definition and self-investment: A hierarchical (multicomponent) model of in-group identification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(1), 144–165. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022–3514.95.1.144CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lincoln, M. (2020). Study the role of hubris in nations’ COVID-19 response. Nature, 585(7825), Article 325. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586–020-02596-8Google Scholar
Lyons, P. A., Kenworthy, J., & Popan, J. (2010). Ingroup identification and group level narcissism as predictors of U.S. citizens’ attitudes and behavior toward Arab immigrants. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36(9), 1267–1280. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167210380604Google Scholar
Marchlewska, M., Cichocka, A., Jaworska, M., Golec de Zavala, A., & Bilewicz, M. (2020). Superficial ingroup love? Collective narcissism predicts ingroup image defense, outgroup prejudice, and lower ingroup loyalty. British Journal of Social Psychology, 59(4), 857–875. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12367Google Scholar
Marchlewska, M., Cichocka, A., Łozowski, F., Górska, P., & Winiewski, M. (2019). In search of an imaginary enemy: Catholic collective narcissism and the endorsement of gender conspiracy beliefs. The Journal of Social Psychology, 159(6), 766–779. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2019.1586637Google Scholar
Marchlewska, M., Cichocka, A., Panayiotou, O., Cattellanos, K., & Batayneh, J. (2018). Populism as identity politics: Perceived in-group disadvantage, collective narcissism, and support for populism. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 9(2), 151–162. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550617732393CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marchlewska, M., Górska, P., Malinowska, K., & Kowalski, J. (2021). Threatened masculinity: Gender-related collective narcissism predicts prejudice toward gay and lesbian people among heterosexual men in Poland. Journal of Homosexuality. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2021.1907067Google Scholar
Mashuri, A., van Leeuwen, E., Zaduqisti, E., & Sukmawati, F. (2020). The psychological antecedents of resistance to humanitarian aid. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430220962179Google Scholar
Molenda, Z., Marchlewska, M., Gorska, P., Lipowska, K., & Malinowska, K. (2020). The fear of criticism? Catholic collective narcissism and paedophilia myths acceptance [Manuscript submitted for publication].Google Scholar
Muller, J. W. (2016). What is populism? University of Pennsylvania Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Niblett, R. (2016). Britain, EU, and the sovereignty myth. Chatham House research paper. https://www.chathamhouse.org/publication/britain-eu-and-sovereignty-mythGoogle Scholar
Postmes, T., Haslam, S. A., & Jans, L. (2012). A single-item measure of social identification: Reliability, validity, and utility. British Journal of Social Psychology, 52(4), 597–617. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12006Google Scholar
Putnam, A. L., Ross, M. Q., Soter, L. K., & Roediger, H. L. (2018). Collective narcissism: Americans exaggerate the role of their home state in appraising U.S. history. Psychological Science, 29(9), 1414–1422. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797618772504Google Scholar
Randsley de Moura, G., Abrams, D., Retter, C., Gunnarsdottir, S., & Ando, K. (2009). Identification as organizational anchor: How identification and job satisfaction combine to predict turnover intention. European Journal of Social Psychology, 39(4), 540–557. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.553Google Scholar
Raskin, R., & Terry, H. (1988). A principal-components analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and further evidence of its construct validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(5), 890–902. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.54.5.890Google Scholar
Reuters. (2020, 8 April). False claim: Boris Johnson refused offer of 50,000 ventilators from the European Union. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-johnson-ventilators-europe/falseclaim-boris-johnson-refused-offer-of-50000-ventilators-from-the-european-union-idUSKCN21Q350Google Scholar
Roccas, S., Klar, Y., & Liviatan, I. (2006). The paradox of group-based guilt: Modes of national identification, conflict vehemence, and reactions to the in-group’s moral violations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(4), 698–711. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022–3514.91.4.698Google Scholar
Roccas, S., Sagiv, L., Schwartz, S., Halevy, N., & Eidelson, R. (2008). Toward a unifying model of identification with groups: Integrating theoretical perspectives. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 12(3), 280–306. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868308319225Google Scholar
Rubin, M., & Hewstone, M. (1998). Social identity theory’s self-esteem hypothesis: A review and some suggestions for clarification. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2(1), 40–62. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0201_3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schatz, R. T., Staub, E., & Lavine, H. (1999). On the varieties of national attachment: Blind versus constructive patriotism. Political Psychology, 20(1), 151–174. https://doi.org/10.1111/0162-895X.00140Google Scholar
Sternisko, A., Cichocka, A., Cislak, A., & Van Bavel, J. (in press). National narcissism and the belief and the dissemination of conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from 56 Countries. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672211054947 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tajfel, H. (1981). Human groups and social categories: Studies in social psychology. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict In Austin, W. G & Worchel, S. (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations. (pp. 33–47). Brooks/Cole.Google Scholar
Trump, D. J. (2016). Great again: How to fix our crippled America. Threshold Editions.Google Scholar
Van Bavel, J., Baicker, K., Boggio, P. S., et al. (2020). Using social and behavioral science to support COVID-19 pandemic response. Nature Human Behaviour, 4, 460–471. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562–020-0884-zGoogle Scholar
Von Tunzelmann, A. (2019, 12 August). The imperial myth driving Brexit. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/08/imperial-myths-behind-brexit/595813/Google Scholar
Zaromb, F. M., Liu, J. H., Paez, D., Hanke, K., Putnam, A. L., & Roediger, H. L. (2018). We made history: citizens of 35 countries overestimate their nation’s role in world history. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 7(4), 521–528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2018.05.006Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×