Collective religious narcissism (CRN) is a defensive and contingent attachment to one’s religious in-group that frames the group as exceptional and entitled to recognition. This symposium integrates five studies on agentic and communal forms CRN. Across a Polish population study using item-level network models, we show that the structure of CRN is largely comparable among believers and non-believers, yet its correlates differ: among believers, CRN is embedded in religiosity and spirituality, whereas among atheists it is less tied to religion and more connected to broader worldview variables. Drawing on a cross-cultural project (9,278 respondents in 49 countries) and multilevel modelling, we demonstrate that intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity robustly predict both CRN forms, while macro-contexts (e.g., globalisation, religious diversity, and religious divide) moderate these relations. Two complementary Polish studies identify psychological “inputs” and “outputs” of CRN: (a) link between right-wing authoritarianism and CRN being driven primarly by agentic image of the religious in-group, suggesting an orientation toward promotion and influence rather than mere protection; and (b) moral foundations show domain-specific effects (e.g., Loyalty predicting agentic CRN; Sanctity predicting communal CRN), indicating that CRN does not reduce to general moral concerns. Finally, using commonality analysis, we disentangle CRN from religiosity in predicting unfounded beliefs, showing that agentic CRN is most consistently tied to paranormal and conspiracy beliefs, whereas traditional religious beliefs are better explained by components of religiosity. Together, the presentations position CRN as a distinct defensive identity process and show differences between its agentic and communal forms.
Collective religious narcissism across contexts: measurement, roots, and consequences