Rape cases of celebrities and other influential figures have caught the public eye in recent years. Following the media attention to these cases, people made strong judgments either believing or doubting the victims. Even though some of these men were convicted, they tended to receive little jail time and continued to enjoy people’s sympathy, as in the case of the Hungarian national swimming-coach. We examined whether opinions about the coach’s rape were affected by rape myth acceptance (RMA) and the perception of the perpetrator as a successful person. We conducted two online surveys to reveal this connection at two different points. The case was still somewhat ambiguous at the time of data collection for Study 1 (N = 870) because the perpetrator denied it. However, Study 2 (N = 105) took place after the perpetrator admitted his crime. In line with our predictions, we found that in the uncertain context of Study 1, RMA and the perception of the perpetrator as a successful person predicted whether respondents labeled the incident as rape, and how the perpetrator’s reactions were judged morally. In the certain condition of Study 2, RMA continued to predict moral judgments, but it no longer predicted whether the incident was labeled as rape. These findings showed that in the evaluation of a rape case of a popular and powerful person, perception of the perpetrator’s success can affect the overall evaluation of the case based on the level of RMA. However, such a connection is more pronounced when there are still ambiguities regarding the rape. We therefore suggest that both RMA and the effect of the overall perception of the perpetrator are considered in rape prevention programs, because rape cases rarely appear as certain and unambiguous in the media.

The Narcissistic Personality Inventory is a widely used measure of narcissism; however, several different conflicting factor structures have been proposed. The present study aimed to untangle those differences by offering a bifactor model of narcissism with an underlying general narcissism factor and several specific factors. Our objective was to estimate the variance explained by the general and the specific factors. Therefore, we applied a set of confirmatory factor analyses on three independent studies (N = 791; N = 319 and N = 237), and also tested the construct validity of these factors with other contemporary measures of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, big five personality traits, explicit self-esteem, gender and well-being. Our results suggest that the bifactor model with three specific factors yielded acceptable fit to our data in all of the different single-stimulus response formats and languages used in our studies and modelling three specific factors offered more insight into the adaptive and maladaptive characteristics of narcissism. The general narcissism factor alone explains only about half of the common variance, highlighting the importance of the specific factors as well.

In case of a global crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, inclusive identities are essential for coordinated action and for pro-social behavior on behalf of vulnerable groups. We tested how identification with all humanity vs. the national ingroup play a role in supporting vulnerable groups by prosocial action on one hand, and on the other hand, how these factors mobilize people to be willing to put pressure on authorities for the interest of their communities. We hypothesized that identification with all humanity (compared to national identity) leads to empathy for vulnerable groups and prosocial action intention on behalf of them to a higher degree, and unlike national identity, it also predicts political action intention. Data was collected with an online survey at four timepoints in Hungary. Our path analyses showed that both human and national identity predicted empathy and prosocial action intentions toward groups in need. Human identification was a positive, and national identification a negative predictor of political action intention. While both identification with all humanity and national identity united people in caring for others in a crisis, the two forms of identification divided them in questioning governmental measures. Identification with all humanity made people not only sensitive to vulnerable groups, but critical to the government and made them more willing to challenge political decisions. Identification with all humanity became a predictor of political action intention, showing that solidarity could manifest both in prosocial and political action tendency in the context of COVID-19.

BackgroundNarcissism viewed as a personality process rather than a stable trait explains narcissistic functioning as a tool for maintaining a positive self-view. Studying narcissism therefore needs adequate momentary measures for collecting higher frequency longitudinal data in experience sampling method (ESM) studies. In this study, a shorter version of the Pathological Narcisissm Inventory is offered to measure vulnerable and grandiose narcissistic states, applicable in momentary assessment.MethodsThe measurement tool was tested in three samples. First, we assessed the factor structure and associations with other contemporary measures of narcissism in a cross-sectional design on one English speaking (n = 319) and one Hungarian sample (n = 236). Second, we conducted a five-day long experience sampling method study with a total of 15 measurement points (n = 123).ResultsBased on structural equation modelling and multilevel analyses, the results suggest that the measure has adequate psychometric properties in both the within and between subject levels as well as acceptable convergent and discriminant validity.ConclusionsThe Pathological Narcissism Inventory – State Version (PNI-S) can be a useful tool in momentary data collection enabling the examination of personality processes behind narcissistic functioning.

A nárcisztikus működésmód és a jóllét kapcsolata régóta viták tárgyát képezi. Az önbeszámolós kérdőíveken alapuló kutatások a grandiózus nárcisztikus vonások és a jóllét számos mutatója között rendre közepesen erős pozitív kapcsolatot mutatnak, míg a sérülékeny nárcizmus inkább negatív affektivitással, alacsony önértékeléssel és alacsonyabb jólléttel jár együtt. Azonban, ha a nárcizmust mint a pozitív önértékelés elérésére irányuló önszabályozási működésmódot értelmezzük, akkor a pusztán önbeszámolós mérések számos torzítást tartalmazhatnak. A jelen tanulmányban ezért az öndeterminációs elmélet keretrendszerét és az eddig összegyűlt kutatási eredményeket felhasználva áttekintjük, hogy a nárcisztikus működésmód mennyire járhat együtt az alapvető emberi szükségletek – a kompetencia, az autonómia és a kapcsolódás – kielégítettségével. Áttekintésünk alapján a nárcisztikus működésmód leginkább a kapcsolódás szükségletére fejthet ki negatív hatást, míg a kompetencia és az autonómia esetében részben pozitív, részben negatív következményekkel számolhatunk. Végül számba vesszük a további lehetséges kutatási irányokat, amelyek segíthetnek a fennmaradó kettősség tisztázásában.