The relation of individual and collective narcissism and belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories: the moderating effects of need for uniqueness and belonging

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic not only led to chaos and uncertainty, it also brought about many conspiracy theories. In the last two decades, with considerable amount of research, social psychologists have begun to unravel the personality traits underlying conspiracy theories. One such trait is narcissism where the need to distinguish oneself from others might be satisfied by holding beliefs that are different from the general population. In this research, we focus, for the first time in the literature, on both collective and grandiose narcissism’s predictive effects on Covid-19 conspiracy theories and the possible moderation of need for uniqueness (feeling oneself to be special and different from others) and belonging (feeling oneself to be part of a larger and worthy whole). In a Turkish sample (N = 309), we found that both collective and grandiose narcissism were significant predictors of Covid-19 conspiracy. In addition, when the need to feel special was high, grandiose narcissists, but not collective narcissists, tended to believe in Covid-19 conspiracies. Finally, we found that generic conspiracy beliefs were also important predictors of Covid-19 conspiracy theories. Our research illuminates the link between narcissism and Covid-19 conspiracy theories. Future research should look for other possible moderating factors between collective narcissism and conspiracy beliefs in the context of Covid-19.

Narcissistic susceptibility to conspiracy beliefs exaggerated by education, reduced by cognitive reflection

“…It refers to a heightened self-image, a sense of entitlement, as well as manipulative and aggressive tendencies (Miller et al, 2011). Studies consistently show a link between grandiose narcissism and both generic conspiracy theory endorsement and COVID-19 specific conspiracy theory endorsement (Kay, 2021;Ük and Bahcekapili, 2022). Vulnerable narcissism shares core characteristics with grandiose narcissism of antagonism and entitlement, however is differentiated by emotional dysregulation, insecurity, low self-esteem, and heightened self-consciousness (Miller et al, 2010;Kay, 2021).…”