Psychologists: people with an anxious type of attachment tend to participate in conspiracies and pogroms
According to a new study by scientists from the Institute of Psychology of the Polish Academy of Sciences , people with pronounced anxious attachment are more likely to have an increased level of group narcissism. The study was published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin .
Group narcissism is a phenomenon in which individuals exaggerate the positive image and importance of the group to which they belong.
“In this work, we wanted to find out what causes such narcissism. In particular, we focused on attachment styles in order to better understand their role in the formation of different attitudes towards one’s own national group, ”the scientists explained.
A style or type of attachment is a way of forming a relationship with a partner. It is customary to distinguish four main models: reliable, anxious, avoidant and anxious-avoidant. A person with a secure type of attachment is not afraid of intimacy, does not depend on another, and knows how to receive and give love. The second type is characterized by a deep fear of being abandoned, the third by a fear of emotional intimacy. The fourth type combines the above fears.
Nearly 1,400 people took part in the survey. All of them took two surveys with an interval of six months to determine the level of collective narcissism and the type of attachment.
As a result of the analysis of the obtained data, scientists recorded the relationship between anxious attachment type and national narcissism, which, in turn, is associated with deviant collective actions (such as blocking streets or destroying property to exert political pressure) and increased readiness for conspiracy.
“We found that anxiety at the individual level is expressed in collective defense in the form of national narcissism, which manifests itself in the desire for recognition of one’s group. This suggests that such social behavior compensates for a person’s internal dissatisfaction,” the authors concluded.
