National Narcissism predicts the Belief in and the Dissemination of Conspiracy Theories During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence From 56 Countries-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

National Narcissism predicts the Belief in and the Dissemination of Conspiracy Theories During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence From 56 Countries

Published:2021-12-07 Issue: Volume: Page:014616722110549
ISSN:0146-1672
Container-title:Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
language:en
Short-container-title:Pers Soc Psychol Bull

Author:

Sternisko Anni¹^ORCID,Cichocka Aleksandra²³,Cislak Aleksandra⁴^ORCID,Van Bavel Jay J.¹

Affiliation:

1. New York University, New York City, USA

2. University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

3. Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland

4. SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland

Abstract

Conspiracy theories related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have propagated around the globe, leading the World Health Organization to declare the spread of misinformation an “Infodemic.” We tested the hypothesis that national narcissism—a belief in the greatness of one’s nation that requires external recognition—is associated with the spread of conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic. In two large-scale national surveys ( NTotal = 950) conducted in the United States and the United Kingdom, and secondary analysis of data from 56 countries ( N = 50,757), we found a robust, positive relationship between national narcissism and proneness to believe and disseminate conspiracy theories related to COVID-19. Furthermore, belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories was related to less engagement in health behaviors and less support for public-health policies to combat COVID-19. Our findings illustrate the importance of social identity factors in the spread of conspiracy theories and provide insights into the psychological processes underlying the COVID-19 pandemic.

Funder

Alliance for Decision Education

Polish National Science Center

Prolific Academic as part of the COVID-19 research initiative

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Subject

Social Psychology

Link

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/01461672211054947

Reference76 articles.

1. Ardag M. M. (2019, December 2). 3-item version of Collective Narcissism Scale. Collective narcissism. https://collectivenarcissism.com/blog/3item_cns

2. Azevedo F., Pavlovic T., Rêgo G. G., Ceren F. A., Gjoneska B., Ross R. M., Schoenegger P., Riano J., Cichocka A., Capraro V., Cian L., Longoni C., Chan H. F., Gkinopoulos T., Kantorowicz J. ICSMP Consortium Sampaio W. (2021). Social and Moral Psychology of COVID-19 across 69 Countries. http://10.17605/OSF.IO/TFSZA

3. Back M. D., Küfner A. C. P., Dufner M., Gerlach T. M., Rauthmann J. F., Denissen J. J. A. (2013). Narcissistic admiration and rivalry: Disentangling the bright and dark sides of narcissism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105(6), 1013–1037. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034431

4. Basol M., Roozenbeek J., van der Linden S. (2020). Good news about bad news: Gamified inoculation boosts confidence and cognitive immunity against fake news. Journal of Cognition, 3(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.91

5. Bell A., Fairbrother M., Jones K. (2018). Fixed and random effects models: Making an informed choice. Quality & Quantity, 53(2), 1051–1074. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-018-0802-x

Cited by 99 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献订阅此论文施引文献，注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献，订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

1. Durably reducing conspiracy beliefs through dialogues with AI;Science;2024-09-13

2. Effects of system-sanctioned framing on climate awareness and environmental action in the United States and beyond;Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences;2024-09-09

3. The New Satanic Panic;Political Science Quarterly;2024-08-28

4. The Politics of Contagion: States, Societies, and the Control and Consequences of Infectious Diseases;Annual Review of Political Science;2024-07-29

5. Partisans neither expect nor receive reputational rewards for sharing falsehoods over truth online;PNAS Nexus;2024-07-24