Collective Narcissism, Left‐ and Right‐Wing Authoritarianisms, and Justification of War

Magdalena Anna Żemojtel-Piotrowska, Piotr Radkiewicz, Maksim Rudnev, Heather A. Kumove and Jarosław Piotrowski
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Magdalena Anna Żemojtel-Piotrowska: Institute of Psychology, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, Poland
Piotr Radkiewicz: Institute of Psychology, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, Poland
Maksim Rudnev: Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Canada
Heather A. Kumove: Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA / Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Reichmann University, Israel
Jarosław Piotrowski: Institute of Psychology, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, Poland

Politics and Governance, 2025, vol. 13

Abstract: Previous studies found positive relationships between collective narcissism, right-wing authoritarianism, and acceptance of war; however, they overlooked how these wars are seen as justified. In our study (N = 448, Polish community sample), we used a new tool to measure beliefs justifying war, identifying three dimensions: just war (with morally restricted views on reasons and means), unrestricted reasons, and unrestricted means. Using correlational, path, and network analyses, we found that left-wing authoritarianism is related to lower acceptance of just war and higher acceptance of unrestricted means, while secure national identification indicates opposite patterns. Contrary to our expectations, communal national narcissism was linked to lower acceptance of just war. Unexpectedly, even though beliefs justifying war reflect moral principles, they did not vary with religious identification or right-wing authoritarianism. This suggests that being attached to people sharing the same religious affiliation does not necessarily imply adherence to the moral principles that underpin that worldview. This study is the first to demonstrate a disconnect between beliefs justifying war and different forms of ingroup attachment.

Keywords: authoritarianism; collective narcissism; just war; morality; national identification; religious identification (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:10025

DOI: 10.17645/pag.10025

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