Collective narcissism and in-group satisfaction are alternative beliefs people may hold about social identities they share (Golec de Zavala, Dyduch-Hazar, & Lantos, 2019). Collective narcissism is a belief that the in-group is exceptional and entitled to privileged treatment but insufficiently recognized by others (Golec de Zavala et al., 2009). In-group satisfaction  is a belief that the in-group and one’s membership in it are the reasons to be proud of (Leach et al., 2008). Collective narcissism focuses on resentment for unrecognized greatness of the in-group, whereas in-group satisfaction emphasizes concern about the in-group welfare. Collective narcissism and in-group satisfaction overlap, but result in different attitudes towards out-groups, especially when their common variance is partialled out: Collective narcissism is related to out-group derogation, whereas in-group satisfaction is linked to out-group tolerance (Golec de Zavala, Cichocka, & Bilewicz, 2013a). 

Research show that collective narcissism is related to low self-esteem (Golec de Zavala et al., in press), high self-criticism and low personal control (Cichocka, Marchlewska, Golec de Zavala, & Olechowski, 2017). Collective narcissism is also associated with negative emotionality, lack of life satisfaction  and social connectedness (Golec de Zavala, 2019). People who hold narcissistic belief about the in-group are distrustful (Cichocka, Marchlewska, & Golec de Zavala, 2016), hostile (Golec de Zavala, Cichocka, & Iskra-Golec, 2013b) and unforgiving (Dyduch-Hazar, Mrozinski, Simao, & Golec de Zavala, 2019a).

In contrast to collective narcissism, in-group satisfaction is related to high self-esteem and high self-control (Golec de Zavala et al., in press). In-group satisfaction is also linked to positive emotionality, pro-sociality and psychological well-being (Golec de Zavala, 2019).  In-group satisfiers are also inclined to accept past transgressions of the in-group (Dyduch-Hazar et al., 2019) and tolerant towards minorities (Dyduch-Hazar, Mrozinski, & Golec de Zavala, 2019b). 

During our symposium “National collective narcissism: vengeful hostility towards minorities and ambivalence towards the European Union” I will present results of our investigation concerning the opposite unique associations of collective narcissism and in-group satisfaction on aggression against Syrian refugees via belief in the hedonistic function of revenge. Although, results are mixed with respect to whether revenge is a pleasant experience (Carlsmith, Wilson, & Gilbert, 2008; Lambert, Peak, Eadeh, & Schott, 2014; cf Chester & DeWall, 2016; de Quervain et al., 2004; Krämer, Jansma, Tempelmann, & Münte, 2007), the belief that venting anger improves mood increases the severity of aggressive retaliation (Bushman, Baumeister, & Phillips, 2001). Our study pointed out to this research, but we took that argument further and examined whether the hedonistic belief about revenge, an expectation of emotional reward from harming others in response to feeling oneself harmed (Dyduch-Hazar, Golec de Zavala, & Mrozinski, 2019), is linked to aggression against Syrian refuges, especially when they are perceived as threatening. Furthermore, we hypothesised that collective narcissism and in-group satisfaction will show opposite unique associations with the belief regarding “sweetness” of revenge. In examining this prediction, we accounted for the fact that collective narcissism and in-group satisfaction overlap. Given that unlike collective narcissism, in-group satisfaction’s association with intergroup tolerance, we consider its relationships with the hedonistic belief about revenge for comparative purposes and to account for the variance it shares with collective narcissism when examining the role of the latter.  

Abstract

Karolina Dyduch-Hazar* 1, Blazej Mrozinski 2, Marzena Cypryanska-Nezlek 1, Agnieszka Golec de Zavala 2, 3, 4

1 University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, 2 University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Poznan, 3 Goldmiths, University of London, 4 Instituto Universitario de Lisboa

Opposite unique relationships of collective narcissism and in-group satisfaction on intergroup aggression via hedonistic beliefs about revenge

Collective narcissism pertains to emotional investment in the exaggerated image of the ingroup, which is associated with low self-esteem, a chronically negative mood and impairments in emotion regulation. In-group satisfaction refers to being proud of one’s membership in a valuable ingroup. It is related to positive emotionality, prosociality and emotional resilience. In this study we examined whether collective narcissism and in-group satisfaction have unique opposite relationships with intergroup aggression towards threatening outgroups and whether this relationship is mediated via hedonistic beliefs about revenge. 483 Polish nationals assessed how much they perceived Syrian refugees as a threat Polish values and economic welfare. Next, they responded to a novel Hedonistic Beliefs About Revenge Scale, which measures an individual disposition to expect an emotional reward from harming others in retaliation. As a measure of symbolic aggression towards the threatening outgroup, participants were given an opportunity to stab a virtual voodoo doll representing Syrian refugee with virtual pins. The structural equation modelling revealed that collective narcissism and ingroup satisfaction had opposite unique relationships with the hedonistic belief about revenge which mediated their opposite effect on aggression towards refugees. This relationship was observed especially among participants who perceived refugees as threatening. This indicates that collective narcissists were prone to aggress towards refugees because they believed harming them for threatening their ingroup would bring emotional reward. Thus, intergroup aggression seems to be a mood improving strategy of dealing with perceived intergroup threat for people who hol collectve narcissistic belief about the in-group.

Keywords: hedonistic beliefs about revenge, intergroup aggression, collective narcissism, ingroup satisfaction, intergroup threat

Read more about our symposium here: https://ispp.eventsair.com/QuickEventWebsitePortal/2019-ispp-annual-meeting/event-site/Agenda/AgendaItemDetail?id=2e8ba901-edd3-4c62-9a9b-79c5fee87766

See you at the annual meeting of International Society of Political Psychology in Lisbon this July!