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My way or the highway: High narcissism and low self‐esteem predict decreased support for democracy.

Authors :
Marchlewska, Marta
Castellanos, Kevin A.
Lewczuk, Karol
Kofta, Mirosław
Cichocka, Aleksandra
Source :
British Journal of Social Psychology; Jul2019, Vol. 58 Issue 3, p591-608, 18p, 1 Diagram, 4 Charts
Publication Year :
2019

Abstract

In two studies, we analysed the relationships between different types of self‐evaluation (i.e., narcissism and self‐esteem) and support for democracy. Support for democracy requires the ability to respect the views and opinions of others, even if one disagrees with them. Classic studies have linked support for democracy with high self‐evaluation, which should assume psychological security and, thus, the ability to trust others. However, not all forms of high self‐evaluation are secure. Narcissists have high feelings of self‐worth, but tend to be defensive: They are easily threatened by criticisms or conflicting views. We then expected that while support for democracy should be positively predicted by secure, non‐narcissistic self‐evaluation, it should be negatively predicted by narcissistic self‐evaluation. In two studies, conducted in the United States (Study 1, n = 407) and in Poland (Study 2, n = 405), support for democracy was positively predicted by self‐esteem and negatively predicted by narcissism. Study 2 additionally demonstrated that interpersonal trust mediated the effects of self‐esteem on support for democracy. We discuss the role of psychological predispositions in understanding support for democratic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
01446665
Volume :
58
Issue :
3
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
British Journal of Social Psychology
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
137771051
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12290