The vigilante identity and organizations

Communal Narcissism and Sadism as Predictors of Everyday Vigilantism

“…We explored the relationships between communal narcissism, sadism, and scores on the vigilante identity scale, a measure that has been shown to predict who is likely to become a vigilante (Chen, Graso, et al, 2022). We used ordinary least square regression as all variables were individual-level variables.…”

“…Participants were asked the following question: “In the past, have you ever (1) closely monitored the behaviors of other people for signs of wrongdoing (i.e., not following the rules, laws, or norms), (2) and then when you observed a wrongdoing, made an effort to punish the person directly or indirectly, even though it was not part of your formal responsibility to do so?” This description captures the distinguishing characteristics of a vigilante as not only monitoring others’ behavior but also administering punishment without formal authorization (Chen, Graso, et al, 2022). Participants could select one of three response options: (1) Yes, I have ( Past Vigilante ); (2) No, I have not, but I can see myself doing so in the future ( Future Vigilante ); (3) No, I have not, and I cannot see myself doing so in the future ( Non-vigilante ).…”

“…Next, participants answered Chen, Graso, et al's (2022) measure of the vigilante identity (e.g., I am the kind of person who a ctively monitors others to see if they are following society's rules ; I am the kind of person who e nsures that people who do wrong get punished for it ; 1 = Completely like me , 7 = Completely unlike me ), which was included as an exploratory measure. If communal narcissism and sadism both predicted vigilante identity, this would raise the possibility that the effect of both predictors on the enactment of vigilante behavior may partly operate through the internalization of a vigilante identity 5…”

“…Importantly, our results remained consistent regard less of the elimination process, ensuring the robustness of our findings. also administering punishment without formal authorization (Chen, Graso, et al, 2022). Participants could select one of three response options: (1) Yes, I have (Past Vigilante); (2) No, I have not, but I can see myself doing so in the future (Future Vigilante); (3) No, I have not, and I cannot see myself doing so in the future (Non-vigilante).…”

“…In neighborhoods, residents organize watch groups to detect and sometimes confront troublemakers (Ivasiuc, 2015; Weisburd, 1988). Social media users dox or harass others in online communities for committing various transgressions (Huey et al, 2013) and employees monitor and punish fellow employees and even consumers (Chen, Graso, et al, 2022; Crawford & Dacin, 2021).…”