Bjarki Gronfeldt, PhD candidate in Political Psychology, accepted his Roberta Sigel Best Conference Paper by Early Career Member Award at ISPP2022. This award was granted for his paper, “A Small Price to Pay: National Narcissism Predicts Readiness to Sacrifice In-group Members”, co-authored by Aleksandra Cislak, Anni Sternisko, Irem Eker and Aleksandra Cichocka.
This research found an association between national narcissism, a defensive form of national identity that craves recognition from others, and support for various harmful policy proposals regarding COVID-19. For example, national narcissism in the United States was associated with willingness to stop testing for COVID-19 to improve the US’s case numbers in comparison to others, and support for releasing an untested vaccine to beat other countries to the punch. Those high in national narcissism were seemingly ready to sacrifice their compatriots in order to look strong and powerful in the eyes of others.