Three components of self-enhancement in the spiritual domain can be distinguished (Vonk & Visser, 2019): believes about one’s own spiritual superiority (i.e., believing in being better than average in the spiritual domain), proclaiming oneself as a spiritual guide (i.e., interpersonal and behavioral aspects of spiritual superiority), and supernatural overconfidence (i.e., believing in having supernatural powers). Role of the Dark Triad personality traits (i.e., narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy) and numinous constructs (i.e., religiosity and superiority) as predictors of self-enhancement in the spiritual domain was examined in a general Polish sample (N = 548). Using Structural Equations Modelling, we found that religiosity, spirituality and narcissism were positive predictors of all components of self-enhancement in the spiritual domain. Additionally, Machiavellianism was a weak positive predictor of spiritual superiority, and psychopathy was a weak positive predictor of supernatural overconfidence. Results are discussed in the light of the “self-centrality breeds self-enhancement” principle (Gebauer et al., 2012), according to which people do self-enhance on traits central for their selves.
Keywords: spiritual superiority, religiosity, spirituality, narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy