'Collective narcissism' explains at least some of President Trump's support

By Agnieszka Golec de Zavala and Christopher Federico March 17 at 6:00 AM

President Trump’s populist candidacy and election defied the expectations of both political professionals and public-opinion researchers. In the scramble for explanations since, several influential accounts have emerged.

One part of the puzzle is structural: As political scientist Julia Azari put it, a toxic combination of “weak parties and strong partisanship” makes it harder for party leaders to stop Trump-like insurgents while guaranteeing that the party faithful in the general public will support those insurgents once they are nominated.

Another part of the puzzle has to do with various individual inclinations that attracted voters to Trump’s candidacy. Explanations of this sort have focused on economic dissatisfaction, authoritarianism, sexism and racial resentment.

Recently, we explored a psychological characteristic that explains some of the support for Trump’s candidacy: collective narcissism, or an exaggerated belief in an in-group’s greatness, which must be continually reinforced from the outside. The Trump campaign repeatedly insinuated that the United States was no longer what it used to be — and promised to “make America great again.” This theme was particularly well tuned to the kinds of concerns and fears that come from collective narcissism.

What is collective narcissism?

Collective narcissism is a lot like individual narcissism in that it involves emotional dependence on others’ admiration. The difference is that collective narcissists seek privilege and recognition for groups they belong to. They constantly monitor their environment for validation and are hypersensitive to threats to the in-group’s image.

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