Beyond Religious Narcissistic Identification: Agnostic and Atheistic Narcissism

Żemojtel-Piotrowska M.; Piotrowski J.; Nowak B.; Saroglou V.; Maltby J.; Sedikides C.; Adamovic M.; Aminnuddin N.A.; Appiah S.C.Y.; Ardi R.; Babakr Z.H.; Baldursson E.B.; Bălțătescu S.; Aytaç M.B.; Bolatov A.; Bonfá-Araujo B.; Burghart M.; Chobthamkit P.; Clark M.; Clobert M.; Cowden R.G.; Datu J.A.; Dhakal S.; Dragova-Koleva S.; Espejo B.; Grigoryev D.; Gritti E.; Gundolf K.; Habib R.; Hossain M.I.; Jaume L.C.; Iliško D.; Iqbal N.; Jovanović V.; Jukić T.; Kamble S.V.; Khachatryan N.; Knezović E.; Kovacs M.; Kumove H.A.; Eldesoki W.L.M.; Larzabal Fernandez A.; Li N.; Lifshin U.; Liik K.; Likhanov M.; Mamuti A.; Mannerström R.; Marganski A.J.; Martín Carbonell M.; Mestvirishvili M.; Moon C.; Papageorgiou K.A.; Park J.; Pérez de León P.; Puente-Díaz R.; Ramos-Diaz J.; Smith T.; Tesfa G.; Thị Thanh Trà K.; Tiliouine H.; Tomšik R.; Umeh C.S.; Vadvilavičius T.; van den Bos K.; van Hiel A.; Wlodarczyk A.; Vally Z.; Vauclair C.-M.; Yahiiaiev I.; Zand F. · International Journal for the Psychology of Religion (2026) · DOI: 10.1080/10508619.2026.2656828

Resumen

Agnosticism and atheism are often grouped simply as nonreligious identities, yet emerging research highlights their distinct psychological profiles and social implications. Among these distinctions, collective narcissism–characterized by strong attachment to one’s group, exceptionalism, and grievance for recognition–offers a framework for understanding identity processes in both nonreligious groups. We examined whether agnostics and atheists exhibit collective narcissism and its forms (agentic–focused on exceptional effectiveness; communal–focused on exceptional morality) similarly to believers. We explored cross-denominational variance in agentic and communal collective narcissism levels relying on data from 77 countries (N = 3,570; 1227 agnostics, 2343 atheists). Agnostics and atheists from secular countries reported lower collective (particularly agentic) narcissism relative to their counterparts from religious countries. Further, agnostics and atheists were higher on communal than agentic collective narcissism. The results highlight the utility of the agency-communion model of collective narcissism among nonbelievers.

Instituciones: Universidad Privada del Norte