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

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.