Personal control decreases narcissistic but increases non-narcissistic in-group positivity

Objective: We examined the effects of control motivation on in-group positivity. Past research suggests that people compensate for low personal control by increasing support for social ingroups. We predicted that the effect of personal control on in-group positivity would depend on the type of in-group positivity. Low personal control should increase compensatory, narcissistic in-group positivity, while high personal control should increase secure, non-narcissistic in-group positivity.

Method: These hypotheses were tested in a cross-sectional survey (Study 1, n= 1083, 54% female, Mage= 47.68), two experiments (Study 2, n= 105, 50% female, Mage = 32.05; Study 3, n=154, 40% female, Mage= 29.93) and a longitudinal survey (Study 4, n= 398, 51% female, Mage= 32.05).

Results: In all studies personal control was negatively associated with narcissistic in-group positivity but positively associated with non-narcissistic in-group positivity. The longitudinal survey additionally showed that the positive relationship between personal control and non-narcissistic in-group positivity was reciprocal. Moreover, both types of in-group positivity differentially mediated between personal control and out-group attitudes: narcissistic in-group positivity predicted negative attitudes and non-narcissistic positivity predicted positive attitudes.

Conclusions: These findings highlight the role of individual motivation in fostering different types of in-group positivity and intergroup outcomes.