Recent findings from researchers at the Institute of Psychology of the Polish Academy of Sciences shed light on how anxious attachment traits can influence the way people view their own social groups. The study, published in the Bulletin of Personality and Social Psychology, shows a clear link between anxious attachment and heightened levels of group narcissism among participants.
Group narcissism refers to a pattern where individuals overemphasize the prestige and importance of the group they belong to, often at the expense of objective judgment about the group itself. This bias can shape how people perceive national or collective identity and what they are willing to defend or extend to others.
The researchers aimed to uncover what underpins this tendency. Rather than focusing solely on broad attitudes, they examined attachment styles — deep-seated patterns in how people relate to others — to understand their role in shaping allegiance to one’s national in-group. The project explored how different ways of forming and maintaining close relationships relate to collective self-regard.
The study enrolled roughly 1,400 participants who completed two questionnaires six months apart. The assessments measured attachment style categories and indicators of collective narcissism. By comparing responses over time, the researchers could observe how early relationship patterns might translate into stronger or weaker in-group favoritism and other group-based attitudes.
Analysis highlighted a meaningful association between anxious attachment and national narcissism. Those with anxious tendencies showed a greater readiness to defend the group and to engage in behaviors that signal loyalty, sometimes even under stress or threat. The findings also connected this mindset with a propensity toward extreme or deviant collective actions that aim to pressure authorities or sway political outcomes, along with an increased openness to conspiracy theories as a way to explain perceived group threats.
The authors noted that individual anxiety appears to spill over into collective defense when people seek to stabilize their self-image through a stronger attachment to the group. In other words, the drive to know and belong to one’s in-group can serve as a coping mechanism for underlying personal dissatisfaction. This dynamic may help explain why some individuals mobilize around national identity in ways that are both emotionally charged and potentially polarizing for broader society. [citation attribution: Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences]