Bright sides of tribal exaggeration?: Collective narcissism and tribal attitudes towards equality

This chapter considers the role of collective narcissism - a belief that the ingroup’s exaggerated greatness is not sufficiently recognized by others - in asymmetric intergroup relations. Reviewed research explains why members of advantaged groups find it hard to sympathize with members of disadvantaged groups. At high levels of collective narcissism, group members are overly distressed by (real or imagined) exclusion of their own ingroup, but not by exclusion of other groups. Collective narcissism also predicts tribal bias in perception of discrimination and attitudes towards equality depending on whether greater equality aligns or goes against the motivation to have one’s own ingroup recognized as better than others. Those members of advantaged group (e.g. men, White people), who score high on collective narcissism endorse anti-egalitarianism and support the state’s repression of social movements towards equality. Among those members of advantaged group (e.g. women, Black or Latins people) who score high on collective narcissism exaggeration of the ingroup’s importance has power-balancing consequences. They endorse egalitarianism, reject beliefs legitimizing inequality and engage in collective action to pursue equality. This is important as collective narcissists in advantaged groups have greater power than collective narcissists in disadvantaged group to claim national prototypicality and frame their ingroup goals as national interests. Members of disadvantaged groups who endorse national collective narcissism endorse beliefs legitimizing inequality and their ingroups’ disadvantage.