Narcissism and affective polarization

Tilley, James and Hobolt, Sara (2024) Narcissism and affective polarization. Political Behavior. ISSN 0190-9320

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Abstract

There are increasing concerns about affective polarization between political groups in the US and elsewhere. While most work explaining affective polarization focuses on a combination of social and ideological sorting, we ask whether people’s personalities are associated with friendliness to their political in-group and hostility to their political out-group. We argue that the personality trait of narcissism (entitled self-importance) is an important correlate of affective polarization. We test this claim in Britain using nationally representative survey data, examining both long-standing party identities and new Brexit identities. Our findings reveal that narcissism, and particularly the ‘rivalry’ aspect of narcissism, is associated with both positive and negative partisanship. This potentially not only explains why some people are more susceptible to affective polarization, but also has implications for elite polarization given that narcissism is an important predictor of elite entry.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://link.springer.com/journal/11109
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Government
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology H Social Sciences > HM Sociology J Political Science > JC Political theory
Date Deposited:	16 Aug 2024 10:52
Last Modified:	16 Aug 2024 18:09
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/124576

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