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. 2025;47(2):599-618.
doi: 10.1007/s11109-024-09963-5. Epub 2024 Aug 2.

Narcissism and Affective Polarization

James Tilley  1 , Sara Hobolt  2
Affiliations

Narcissism and Affective Polarization

James Tilley et al. Polit Behav. 2025.

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.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11109-024-09963-5.

Keywords: Affective polarization; Narcissism; Partisanship; Personality; Political identity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestWe declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Marginal effects of narcissism on positive in-group identities, positive perceptions of in-group traits, negative out-group partisan identity and negative perceptions of out-group traits. Note: models include controls for the Big Five traits (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism) and show standardized coefficients. See Online Appendix 7
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Marginal effects of narcissism on affective polarization by specific identity. Note: models include controls for the Big Five traits (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism) and show standardized coefficients. See Online Appendix 9
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Marginal effects of the two aspects of narcissism on affective polarization. Note: models include controls for the Big Five traits (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism) and show standardized coefficients. See Online Appendix 10
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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