top of page

Collective narcissism and a concept of a “just war”: Cross-cultural perspective
Date: Autumn 2022 

Introduction:

   We have three main research goals: to examine the (1) role of individual-level factors in adopting beliefs in just war (reasons and aims for it); (2) universality (vs. cultural specificity) of beliefs related to just war (reasons and means); and (3) macro-level factors moderating the concept of just war across national and religious backgrounds.

To examine the concept of just war we use three-dimensional model of beliefs in just war, validated in Poland: (1) just war – restricted view on reasons and means of war, as self-defensive and targeted only toward military goals; (2) utilitarian war – unrestricted view on war reasons, accepting war as a way of intergroup conflicts resolutions;  (3) dirty war – unrestricted view on war means, accepting any means useful in defeating the enemy.

    -> Project description download


Aim of project:
   The current project focuses on the concept of just war from political and cross-cultural psychology perspectives, addressing the roles of personality, beliefs, and cultural factors (Lopez & Johnson, 2020). The concept of just war refers both to reasons for war and the way the war is conducted (Coates, 2018; McMahan, 2005; Watkins, 2020). Therefore, we will examine the extent to which people of different nationalities and religious background perceive the war as justified, while testing the role of individual-level and macro-level factors in shaping these perceptions. To explain the possible psychological underpinnings of just war, we focus on collective narcissism (CN); right-wing authoritarianism [RWA],  religiosity and spirituality. We will examine agentic/communal CN in conjunction with national and religious identifications, as particularly relevant for intergroup conflict (Böhm et al., 2020). Warfare studies typically address three levels of analysis (Lopez & Johnson, 2020). The international level refers to the policy-related factors or distribution of power, the domestic level refers to state-related factors, like kind of regime, while the individual level focuses on such factors as beliefs, personality, or culture (Lopez & Johnson, 2020). The concept of just war refers both to reasons for the war and the way it is conducted (Walzer, 1977). In the current project we plan to validate three-dimensional model of just war beliefs described above. We supplement self-report part by an index of extremal war means, rejected by most participants, like using tortures, nuclear weapon or targeting civilians in aim to intimidate the opponent.
If you are interested in joining to the project please contact with project manager:


magdazemojtel@gmail.com

Methods

Just war beliefs (Żemojtel-Piotrowska et al., 2022) – 17-tem scale with three factors supplemented by 4-item “outliers” including extremal war means (like using nuclear weapon or targeting civilians).

Collective narcissism (religious and national): the CNS (Golec de Zavala et al., 2009), the CCNI (Żemojtel-Piotrowska et al., 2021).

Collective identification: brief Social Identification Scale (Cameron, 2004); identity scale of CSES (Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992) –national and religious

Personality: normal: BFI-S (Lang et al., 2015); dark: Dirty Dozen Dark Triad (Jonason & Webster, 2010); NARQ-S (Leckelt et al., 2018); Narcissistic Sanctity and Heroism Questionnaire (Żemojtel-Piotrowska et al., 2022); 4-item sadism (abbreviated version from SD4; Plouffe et al., 2022). 

Political personality: 9-item KSA-3 (Nießen et al., 2019), SDO-7 (Ho et al., 2015)

Religiosity: 9-item religiosity scale (Lavric & Flere, 2008).

Spirituality: 13-item universality and connectedness part of STS (Piedmont, 1999; 2010).

The list of collaborators  (click to download)

 “Just-war” Cross-cultural Research Group

 

Leaders: Magdalena Żemojtel-Piotrowska, Jarosław Piotrowski,

Cross-Cultural Psychology Centre, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw

Statistical team:

Maksim Rudnev, University of Waterloo

Artur Sawicki, University of Gdansk

Albania

Agim Mamuti, Mother Theresa University, North Macedonia

Algeria

Salima Hamouda, University of Biskra, Algeria

Habib Tiliouine, University of Oran, Algeria

Austria

Katherine Gundolf, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Austria

Argentina

Luis Jaume, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

Armenia

Narine Khachatryan, Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenia

Australia

Mladen Adamovic, King's College London, United Kingdom

Bangladesh

Rumana Aktar, Department of Psychology, University of Chittagong

Mohammad Ifaz Uddin, Department of Psychology, University of Chittagong

Md. Imran Hossain, Department of Psychology, University of Chittagong

Belgium

Alain van Hiel, Ghent University, Belgium

Vassilis Saroglou, University of Louvain, Belgium

Bosna & Hercegovina

Ognjen Riđić, International University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Emil Knezović, International University of Sarajevo (IUS), Bosnia and Herzegovina

Goran RiđićUniversity of Economics for Management (HDWM), Germany

Brazil

Valdiney V. Gouveia, Federal University of Paraiba, Paraiba, Brazil

Brunei

Nur Amali Aminnuddin, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei

Bulgaria

Sonya Dragova-Koleva, New Bulgarian University, Sofya, Bulgaria

Canada

Rishad Habib, Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada

Chile

Anna Wlodarczyk, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile

China

Fanli Jia, Seton Hall University, NJ, USA

Maxim Likhanov, Beijing Normal University, China

Colombia

Marta Martín-Carbonell, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Colombia

Yuli Suarez Colorado, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Colombia

Croatia

Doroteja Pavan Jukić, University of Zagreb, School of Medicine, Croatia

Tomislav Jukić, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University, Croatia

Benjamin Mrkušić, MBA,  International University of Sarajevo (IUS)

Czechia

Martina Klicperova-Baker, Czech Academy of Sciences, Praha, Czech Republic

Denmark

Einar Baldvin Baldursson, Aalborg University, Denmark

Ecuador

Aitor Larzabal Fernandez, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador-Ambato, Ecuador

Egypt

Walaa Labib M. Eldesoki, Department of Education and Psychology, faculty of Science and Arts in Qurayyat, Al Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia & Department of Psychology, faculty of Arts, Menoufia University, Egypt

Estonia

Kadi Liik, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia

Ethiopia

Gashaw Tesfa, Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, Ethiopia

Finland

Rasmus Mannerström, University of Helsinki, Finland

France

Magali Clobert,  Université de Caen Normandie

Georgia

Maia Mestvirishvili, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia

Germany

Matthias Burghardt, University of Konstanz, Germany

Goran Ridic, University of Economics for Management (HDWM), Germany

Ghana

Seth Christopher Yaw Appiah, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology,

Department of Sociology and Social Work, Kumasi, Ghana

Greece

Delia Stefenel, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania

Hungary

Monika Kovacs, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

India

Naved Iqbal, Jama Milia Islamia University, New Delhi, India

Shanmukh V. Kamble, Karnatak University, Dharwad, Karnataka, India

Indonesia

Rahkman Ardi, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia

Iran

Fatemeh Zand, Department of Psychology, Institute of Higher Education Non-profit of Tolo Mehr, Qom, Iran

Somayeh Zand, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy

Iraq

Zana Hasan Babakr, Soran University, Iraq

Israel

Mabelle Kretchner, , Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel

Uri Lifshin, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel

Italy

Mario Bonato, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

Calogero Lo Destro, Università degli studi Niccolò Cusano, Italy

Emanuela Gritti, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Università di Urbino Carlo Bo, Italy

Peter K. Jonason, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, Poland & Padova University, Italy

Japan

Joonha Park, NUCB School, Nagoya, Japan

Kazakhstan

Adil Samekin, M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University, Astana, Kazakhstan

Aidos Bolatov, Astana Medical University, Astana, Kazakhstan

Latvia

Dzintra Iliško, Daugavpils University, Daugavpils, Latvia

Lithuania

Tadas Vadvilavicius, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania

Malta

Marilyn Clark, University of Malta, Malta

Olga Bogolyuobova, Leiden University, the Netherlands

Mexico

Rogelio Puente Diaz, Anáhuac University, Mexico

Alejandra Del Carmen Dominguez Espinosa, Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de México, Mexico

Nepal

Sandesh Dhakal, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

Nigeria

Charles S. Umeh, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria

Olusola Ayandele, The Polytechnic, Ibadan

North America (Canada/USA)

Muhammed Bilgehan Aytaç, Aksaray Üniversitesi

North Macedonia

Agim Mamuti, Mother Theresa University, North Macedonia

Pakistan

Najma Malik, University of Sargodha

Sadia Malik, University of Sargodha

Peru

Jano Ramos-Diaz, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Privada del Norte, Lima, Perú

Philippines

Jesus Alonso Datu, The Education University of Hong Kong

Poland

Magdalena Żemojtel-Piotrowska, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, Poland

Jarosław Piotrowski, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, Poland

Artur Sawicki, University of Gdansk, Poland

Bartłomiej Nowak, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, Poland

Portugal

Christin‐Melanie Vauclair, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), CIS-IUL, Lisboa, Portugal

Elena Piccinelli, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), CIS-IUL, Lisboa, Portugal

Russia

Dmitry Grigoryev

Albina Gallyamova

Qatar

Mohammed Salah Hassan, University of Malaya

Romania

Sergiu Bălțătescu, University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania

Serbia

Veljko Jovanovic, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia

Singapore

Norman Lee, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Bryan Choi, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Slovakia:
Robert Tomšík, Výskumný ústav detskej psychológie a patopsychológie (VÚDPaP)

Spain

Begona Espejo, University of Valencia, Spain

Irene Checca, University of Valencia, Spain

Switzerland

Matthias Burghardt, University of Konstanz, Germany

Tabea Hässler, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Thailand

Phatthanakit Chobthamkit, Thammasat University, Pathumthani, Thailand

The Netherlands

Kees van den Bos, University of Utrecht, the Netherlands

Anne Janssen, University of Utrecht, the Netherlands

The United Kingdom

Chanki Moon, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK

John Maltby, University of Leicester, UK

Kostas Papageorgiu, Queen’s University of Belfast, UK

Constantine Sedikides, University of Southampton, UK

The United States

Heather Kumove, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Reichman University

Alison J. Marganski, Le Moyne College

Richard G. Cowden, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States

Trinidad & Tobago

Troy Smith, The Trinidad and Tobago University

Turkey

Emrah Özsoy, Sakarya University, Turkey

Emre Oruc, University of Ankara, Turkey

United Arab Emirates

Zahir Vally, United Arab Emirates University, United Arab Emirates

Ukraine

Illia Yahiiaiev, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine

Karine Malysheva, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine

Uruguay

Pablo Perez de Leon, Universidad Católica del Uruguay Dámaso Antonio Larrañaga

Vietnam

Kiều Thị Thanh Trà, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, Vietnam

bottom of page