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Cutting the forest down to save your face: Narcissistic national identification predicts support for anti-conservation policies

Cislak, Aleksandra, Wojcik, Adrian Dominik, Cichocka, Aleksandra (2018) Cutting the forest down to save your face: Narcissistic national identification predicts support for anti-conservation policies. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 59 . pp. 65-73. ISSN 0272-4944. (doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2018.08.009) (KAR id:68989)

Abstract

Past work showed that strong national identification is negatively related to environmental protection. In this paper we aim to demonstrate that only some forms of national identity oppose environmental concerns. In three studies, we examined the association between support for anti-conservation policies and narcissistic versus conventional national in-group identification. Collective narcissism is a belief in in-group greatness associated with the need for external validation. We found that national collective narcissism (but not national identification without the narcissistic component) was positively associated with support for government subsidy for the coal industry (Study 1, n?=?102), and logging the Bialowieza Forest (Study 2, n?=?189 and Study 3, n?=?635, nationally representative sample). In Studies 2 and 3 these effects were mediated by an increased need to make decisions independently of external influences. The role of defensive forms of in-group identification in support for environmental harm is discussed.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2018.08.009
Uncontrolled keywords: National identification, Collective narcissism, Bialowieza, Natural environment, Coal industry, Conservation
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Funders: [37325] UNSPECIFIED
Depositing User: Aleksandra Cichocka
Date Deposited: 07 Sep 2018 13:58 UTC
Last Modified: 04 Mar 2024 18:39 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/68989 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Cichocka, Aleksandra.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1703-1586
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