"Why do narcissists find conspiracy theories so appealing?"

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X22001051

Abstract

Narcissism—a conviction about one's superiority and entitlement to special treatment—is a robust predictor of belief in conspiracy theories. Recent developments in the study of narcissism suggest that it has three components: antagonism, agentic extraversion, and neuroticism. We argue that each of these components of narcissism might predispose people to endorse conspiracy theories due to different psychological processes. Specifically, we discuss the role of paranoia, gullibility, and the needs for dominance, control, and uniqueness. We also review parallel findings for narcissistic beliefs about one's social groups. We consider the wider implications this research might have, especially for political leadership. We conclude by discussing outstanding questions about sharing conspiracy theories and other forms of misinformation.

One of the classic questions in the study of conspiracy theories, accusing secret groups of colluding to achieve nefarious goals [1], is which individual differences predispose people to believe in them. While the Big Five traits show weak associations with conspiracy beliefs [2], researchers find relatively consistent effects for the way people perceive themselves [3,4]. In three studies, all conducted with US samples, Cichocka and colleagues [5] demonstrated that endorsement of conspiracy theories was related to narcissism—a belief in one's superiority and a sense of entitlement to special treatment, characterised by sensitivity to threats [6∗∗, 7, 8]. Importantly, the effects were unique to narcissism and did not emerge for secure, non-narcissistic self-esteem—a positive self-evaluation characterised by feelings of adequacy and satisfaction with oneself, which can serve as a buffer against psychological threats [7].

The effect of narcissism on conspiracy beliefs has been replicated in various contexts by multiple labs [9, 10, 11, 12∗∗, 13, 14]. For example, Siem and colleagues [15] directly replicated Study 3 of Cichocka and colleagues [5] in a German sample. Their second study, also conducted in Germany, demonstrated a similar pattern of results with respect to belief in conspiracy theories about COVID-19. Sternisko and colleagues [16] confirmed this relationship across 56 countries. Overall, meta-analytic effects ranging from r = .22 [3] to r = .26 [4] suggest that narcissism is one of the best psychological predictors of conspiracy beliefs. In this article, we rely on recent developments in research on narcissism and discuss four psychological mechanisms that might explain why narcissism increases the psychological appeal of conspiracy theories.

The different facets of narcissism

Researchers often distinguish between different types of narcissism (see Figure 1). Most often studied (including in the paper by Cichocka et al. [5]) is grandiose narcissism, regulated by two strategies [17]. First, grandiose narcissists strive to achieve admiration by boosting their egos through a sense of uniqueness, charm, and grandiose fantasizing. This strategy of assertive self-enhancement can also be referred to as agentic extraversion [6,18]. Second, narcissists use rivalry to manage any threats to the self via devaluing others, aggression, and striving for supremacy. This antagonistic self-protection is also known as narcissistic antagonism [6]. Antagonism also feeds into the so-called vulnerable type of narcissism, which—instead of agentic extraversion—is regulated by narcissistic neuroticism, related to negative emotionality and self-consciousness [6,18].1

*snip*

[tanyev]

1. Because the truth is rarely their friend.

[Dirty Socialist]

2. It makes them feel good

Like drugs

[Iggo]

3. Narcissists are lonely as fuck, that's why.

Last edited Wed Aug 24, 2022, 01:55 AM - Edit history (2)

They don’t participate in the real world, so they don’t realize how stupid they sound.

Wanna visualize it? Think of Trump’s face every time he thinks he’s had an original thought.