Collective narcissism and its social consequences

This paper 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 out-groups. The results of 5 studies indicate that collective, but not individual, narcissism predicts inter-group aggressiveness. Collective narcissism is related to high private and low public collective self esteem and low implicit group esteem. It predicts perceived threat from out-groups, unwillingness to forgive outgroups and 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 out-groups and perceived insult to the in-group. In sum, the results indicate that collective narcissism is a form of high but ambivalent group esteem related to sensitivity to threats to the in-group’s image and retaliatory aggression