Suffering saviors: Relationships between perceptions of interpersonal victimhood, the vigilante identity, and the monitoring and punishment of norm violators

Chen, Fan Xuan; Ok, Ekin

doi:10.1016/j.paid.2022.111794

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…As trait victimhood increases, we argue that it feeds feelings of psychological distress and intensifies a dichotomous worldview. Theoretically, the combination of the above with the tendency of individuals who harbor a victimized worldview to feel entitled to use aggressive behavior (e.g., Chen et al, 2022; Gabay et al, 2020), provides clear indication as to why trait victimhood serves as such a potent predictor for political violence. Future research could examine these as well as additional psychological mechanisms underlying the role of trait victimhood in people’s support for and willingness to engage in political violence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We note that the trait victimhood scale consists of four dimensions, that is, need for recognition, lack of empathy, moral elitism, and rumination. However, in accordance with the original validation of the scale (Gabay et al, 2020), here, we also created a single composite of the trait victimhood scale (see also Chen et al, 2022).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We reason that the higher an individual is on trait victimhood, the more likely they will be to perceive that they experience intergroup offenses. Furthermore, they will be more likely to blame their state on an external offender with malevolent intentions, engage in intergroup competitive victimhood, and therefore feel motivated, and even entitled, to restore the deprived sense of significance and address their perceived victimhood through violent means (e.g., Bar-Tal et al, 2009;Chen et al, 2022). We examine the hypothesized role of victimhood in political violence in the United States in three studies.…”

Section: The Current Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Perceived victimhood shapes support for interpartisan political violence in the United States.

Hameiri,

Moore-Berg,

Guillard

et al. 2024

Psychology of Violence

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Objective: Understanding the drivers of political violence is critical, given the destructive consequences it has on the fabric of society. Prior work has established the importance of situational and dispositional predictors of political violence, such as search for significance and meaning and experiencing trauma. However, these predictors do not fully account for one of its most worrisome ingredients-the tendency to feel aggrieved and to express that grievance violently. Here, we examine how trait victimhood undergirds individuals' support for, and engagement with, political violence among Democrats and Republicans in the United States. Method: In Study 1 (N = 393), we examined the predictive power of trait victimhood on support for political violence. In Study 2 (N = 1,000), we tested the same model among a nationally representative sample of U.S. partisans with (self-reported) real-world participation in political violence. In Study 3 (N = 824), we experimentally examined whether inducing intergroup competitive victimhood increases support for political violence, as a function of trait victimhood. Results: In Studies 1-2, trait victimhood strongly predicted support for political violence-an association mediated through intergroup competitive victimhood beliefs. The association between search for meaning and support for violence was also moderated by trait victimhood. In Study 3, the intergroup competitive victimhood manipulation significantly increased support for political violence only among high trait victimhood participants. Conclusion: These results illustrate the importance of trait victimhood-a psychological mechanism that has been undervalued in this context-as a critical psychological force underlying political violence.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Current Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Perceived victimhood shapes support for interpartisan political violence in the United States.

Hameiri,

Moore-Berg,

Guillard

et al. 2024

Psychology of Violence

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show abstract

“…An individual difference that might amplify the effect of sadism is the tendency for interpersonal victimhood (Gabay et al, 2020) defined as the belief that one has been victimized in past relationships. Chen and colleagues (Chen, Ok, & Aquino, 2022) showed that people who tend to view themselves as victims are also more likely become vigilantes. A prediction based on their finding is that a belief in past victimhood could provide sadists with a further rationalization for satisfying their desire for cruelty by becoming a vigilante.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Communal narcissism and sadism as predictors of everyday vigilantism

Chen,

Ok,

Aquino

2023

Personal. Sci.

Self Cite

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Vigilantes monitor their social environment for signs of wrongdoing and administer unauthorized punishment on those who they perceive to be violating laws, social norms, or moral standards. We investigated whether the willingness to become a vigilante can be predicted by grandiose self-perceptions about one’s communality (communal narcissism) and enjoyment of cruelty (sadism). As hypothesized, findings demonstrated both variables to be positively related to becoming a vigilante as measured by reports of past and anticipated vigilante behavior (Study 1) and by dispositional tendencies toward vigilantism (Studies 1 and 2). We also found communal narcissism and sadism predicted the perceived effectiveness of vigilante actions exhibited by others (Study 2) and the intention to engage in vigilantism after witnessing a norm violation (Study 3). Finally, Study 3 also demonstrated that the tendency for communal narcissists and sadists to become a vigilante might vary based on the expected consequences of the observed norm violation.

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Vigilantism

Chen,

Aquino

2023

Encyclopedia of Heroism Studies

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Suffering saviors: Relationships between perceptions of interpersonal victimhood, the vigilante identity, and the monitoring and punishment of norm violators

Cited by 6 publications

References 46 publications

Perceived victimhood shapes support for interpartisan political violence in the United States.

Perceived victimhood shapes support for interpartisan political violence in the United States.

Communal narcissism and sadism as predictors of everyday vigilantism

Vigilantism

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