Collective Narcissism Monitoring

Paweł Ciesielski, Agnieszka Golec de Zavala

The study presents a monthly look at levels of collective narcissism and other psychological variables relating to group-based beliefs and political orientation. The study was started on March 2020 and is being repeated each month by the Ariadna Research Panel using the computer assisted web interview (CAWI) method. The recruited sample comprises Polish citizens and is nationally representative in terms of age, gender and place of residence. 

Link to the detailed description of the scales used in the research.

Collective Narcissism – The resentment for the insufficient recognition of one's own group exceptionality, measured with the 5-item Collective Narcissism Scale (Golec de Zavala, Dyduch-Hazar, & Lantos, 2019). Greater values denote more collective narcissism. Participants answered the questions on a 10 point scale. The mean of all items was then calculated and recoded to a 0-1 scale.

In-Group Satisfaction – The feeling of attachment to one's own national group (Kosterman & Feshbach, 1989), measured with the in-group satisfaction subscale of the ingroup identification scale (Jaworska, 2016, Leach et al., 2008). Greater values denote more in-group satisfaction. Participants answered the questions on a 10 point scale. The mean of all items was then calculated and recoded to a 0-1 scale.

Perception of Family versus National Economic Situation – An index of the relative economic situation of one’s family when compared to the national economic situation created from two items assessing perceived economic situation of 1) one’s family and 2) one’s nation. Greater values denote a relatively more favorable situation of one’s family versus the national economic situation. Participants answered the questions on a 7 point scale. The participants' answer to the second question was substracted from their answer to the first question and the result was recoded to a 0-1 scale.

Left-Right Self-Placement – One’s perceived placement on the left-right continuum of political orientation. Greater values denote a political orientation closer to the right wing. Participants answered the questions on a 5 point scale. Answer to this question was then recoded to a 0-1 scale. Participants also had an option to answer "I don't know". Those who responded in this way were excluded from the analysis of this variable.

Liberal-Conservative Self-Placement – One’s perceived placement on the liberal-conservative continuum of political orientation. Greater values denote a political orientation closer to the conservative end of the continuum. Participants answered the questions on a 5 point scale. Answer to this question was then recoded to a 0-1 scale.