One of the current problems affecting society are intergroup conflicts, which can be caused by attitudes and behaviors dependent on group identity (Böhm et al., 2020). Collective narcissism, defined as a belief in the greatness of one’s own group combined with the perception that it is not recognized by others, is one of the factors that fuels the intergroup violence and is associated with specific views on war (Golec de Zavala, 2024; Żemojtel-Piotrowska et al., 2025). Individuals with higher levels of collective narcissism tend to enhance their group’s image in agentic (e.g., intelligence, competence) and communal (e.g., kindness, morality) domain (Żemojtel-Piotrowska et al., 2021). In the study (N = 789; Mage = 46.63; SDage = 15.93), we expand previous knowledge by examining how religious collective narcissism predicts attitudes and behavioral intentions toward peace and war. We found that collective narcissism does not predict attitudes toward peace and war. However, pro-peace intentions are predicted by collective narcissism in communal domain, as well as pro-war intentions – suggesting acceptance of ingroup defence in armed conflicts. Furthermore, communal collective narcissism predicts pro-peace intentions among unreligious individuals, but not among religious individuals. Our results show differences coming from the Agency-Communion Model and the shaping of views and behavioral intentions depending on religion.
Collective Narcissism and Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions Toward Peace and War: The Role of Religion