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Behind Beliefs – Collective Narcissism, Political Orientation, and Belief in Disinformation in the Time of War in Ukraine

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: : The war in Ukraine has been accompanied by disinformation campaigns, especially from Russian sources. Given the opinion-forming power of such content, exploring factors associated with susceptibility to disinformation is essential. Since disinformation and conspiracy beliefs often overlap, we examined predictors commonly linked to conspiratorial thinking: collective narcissism (CN) and political orientation. Across two studies with demographically diverse Polish samples, we found that collective narcissism was positively related to belief in Russian disinformation and both generic and COVID-related conspiracy theories, while a liberal political orientation was negatively associated with these beliefs. Results suggest that CN's influence may vary for disinformation and COVID conspiracies when accounting for political orientation, with collective narcissism showing a stronger association among individuals with liberal views.

Source: Social Psychology

DOI: 10.1027/1864-9335/a000571

Authors: Maria Flakus, Piotr Koc, Hubert Plisiecki, Artur Pokropek

Institutions: Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Psychology

Language: English

Topic: Misinformation and Its Impacts

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: gold

OpenAlex ID: W4410824587

FWCI: 5.439

Cites: 77

Cited by: 3

Related to: 10