Collective Narcissism and In-Group Satisfaction Predict Opposite Attitudes Toward Refugees via Attribution of Hostility

Abstract

We examined whether and why collective narcissism (i.e., resentment for insufficient recognition of the in-group’s importance) versus in-group satisfaction (i.e., a belief that the in-group and one’s membership in it are reasons to be proud) have opposite, unique associations with hostility toward Syrian refugees in Poland. Results of two cross-sectional studies (Study 1, N = 1066 and Study 2, N = 419) converge to indicate that collective narcissism predicts hostility toward Syrian refugees via attributing Syrian refugees with hostile intentions toward Poles. In-group satisfaction is associated with rejection of hostile actions toward Syrian refugees because it decreases hostile attribution bias with regards to Syrian refugees. Thus, being a satisfied member of a national group promotes tolerance toward refugees, while collective narcissism is associated with blaming refugees for provoking the in-group’s hostility.

Collective Narcissism: Political Consequences of Investing Self‐Worth in the Ingroup’s Image

“…Ingroup satisfaction with collective narcissism partialled out can be interpreted as a positive evaluation of the ingroup, independent of concerns about external recognition and resilient to threats and criticism. Indeed, unlike collective narcissism, residual ingroup satisfaction does not predict hypersensitivity to threat to the ingroup’s image (Golec de Zavala et al, ); it is not related to beliefs about outgroup’s hostile intentions towards the ingroup (Dyduch‐Hazar, Mroziński, & Golec de Zavala, ; Golec de Zavala & Cichocka, ), revengefulness (Dyduch‐Hazar, Mroziński, Cypryańska, & Golec de Zavala, ), nor to outgroup derogation (and it sometimes predicts outgroup tolerance; Golec de Zavala et al, , , ).…”

“…Jewish people are stereotyped as hostile and threatening towards ethnic Poles because they ostensibly want to dominate Poland and the world (Golec de Zavala & Cichocka, ). Collective narcissism is related also to prejudice towards refugees (Dyduch‐Hazar et al, ; Golec de Zavala et al, ), a new outgroup framed as threatening to Polish values and ways of life since the refugee crisis in 2015 (Hall & Mikulska‐Jolles, ). However, collective narcissism is not related to negative attitudes towards French or British people in Poland because those groups are not perceived as threatening (Golec de Zavala et al, ).…”

“…Hostile attribution bias. Studies independently tested the proposition that collective narcissistic intergroup hostility is driven by the intergroup hostile attribution bias, a tendency to perceive outgroups as hostile towards the ingroup (Dyduch‐Hazar et al, ). In a study conducted on a nationally representative sample, Polish collective narcissists rejected Syrian refugees because they perceived them as “aggressive,” “dangerous,” and “hostile towards Poles.” Such a perception mediated the link between collective narcissism and social distance and cold feelings towards the refugees.…”

Male, National, and Religious Collective Narcissism Predict Sexism

“…More generally, people are more likely to adhere to normative beliefs of groups they identify with and treat this adherence as an expression of positively valued social identity (Ellemers et al 2013). Studies also suggest that positive identification with a common, superordinate identity increases acceptance of beliefs justifying normative group-based inequalities among advantaged (Lowery et al 2006) and disadvantaged sub-groups (Dovidio et al 2007(Dovidio et al , 2009).…”

Collective Narcissism, In-Group Satisfaction, and Solidarity in the Face of COVID-19

“…When the variance it shares with collective narcissism is partialled out, in-group satisfaction does not predict hypersensitivity to in-group image threats (Golec de Zavala et al, 2016) or out-group hostility (Golec de Zavala & Cichocka, 2012;Dyduch-Hazar, Mrozinski, & Golec de Zavala, 2019;Golec de Zavala et al, 2019). Moreover, in-group satisfaction is associated with high self-esteem, positive emotionality, life satisfaction, prosociality, and social connectedness (Amiot & Aubin, 2013; Golec de Zavala, 2019).…”