In many European countries, we are currently witnessing social polarization: Europeans’ views on issues such as immigration, social inequality, populist politics, and trust in public institutions are highly divergent. In response to this phenomenon, researchers are seeking to better understand the causes and consequences of support for populism and political extremism, social inequality, prejudice toward immigrants, social discontent, and distrust in politics. However, less is known about the relationships between these attitudes and the factors underlying them (Daenekindt, De Koster, & Van der Waal, 2017). Social polarization and intergroup conflict often stem from our membership in different groups and the ways in which we identify with them. Equally important is the sense of threat (e.g., related to the presence of “outsiders” in one’s country or to economic instability). Although these issues have been studied by many researchers, existing studies do not yet allow for a full understanding of the mechanisms underlying social polarization. This is partly due to limitations of the statistical methods used in previous research projects. The aim of our project is to take a closer look at social polarization by analyzing not so much individual attitudes, but rather the relationships between these attitudes and the potential consequences that emerge from these relationships for reducing conflict and promoting democratic values. Based on correlation class analysis (Boutyline, 2017), we will identify subpopulations characterized by distinct patterns of interrelations between selected dimensions (e.g., perceived threat, identification with one’s ingroup, and attitudes). In this way, we will distinguish groups of individuals who share similar ways of thinking and acting—internally coherent yet different from one another. This approach will allow us to clearly identify axes of polarization that are often overlooked in conventional statistical analyses used to date. Moreover, our project will focus on defensive forms of ingroup identification. Research has shown that group identification can take different forms (Golec de Zavala & Schatz, 2012), varying in their sensitivity to threat. Collective narcissism—the group-level counterpart of individual narcissism—is a type of defensive identification associated with a need for constant external validation of the ingroup’s value. Collective narcissists are particularly sensitive to criticism of their group and other forms of threat; they often display hostility toward outgroups (Marchlewska et al., 2019). Research has also demonstrated that collective narcissism increases in response to both individual (Cichocka et al., 2018) and group-based (Marchlewska et al., 2018) threats. Given that narcissistic identification with different groups (e.g., national groups) may play an important role in shaping populist attitudes and reinforcing social polarization, we have decided to devote a substantial part of this project to this issue. First, we will measure narcissistic identification with various groups in correlational (cross-national) studies. Next, we will employ experimental designs aimed at decreasing (vs. increasing) collective narcissism. We hypothesize that strengthening a sense of security will reduce narcissistic ingroup identification, leading to the rejection of populist politics and a decrease in social polarization. 

The described research activities will be carried out by an international team of scholars specializing in various fields (psychology, political science, and sociology). The integration of expertise on belief systems, political polarization, and the role of group identification in shaping negative attitudes toward the democratic system will enable the development of a comprehensive model explaining the phenomenon of social polarization.

Project Head: Marta Marchlewska, PhD, Professor at the Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences

Project budget: 1 440 076 EUR

The following project, entitled “Threat, identity, and dissent: Understanding and addressing political polarization in European democracies”, is organised by the New Opportunities for Research Funding Agency Co-operation in Europe (NORFACE) network, as part of the HORIZON 2020 programme.