Narcissists are actually less likely to endorse left-wing authoritarianism, study finds

New research published in the journal Current Psychology suggests that narcissistic personality traits are actually linked to lower levels of left-wing authoritarianism. The findings contradict previous claims that individuals with dark personalities are widely drawn to left-wing activism simply to feed their own egos. The study provides evidence that the relationship between progressive political aggression and dark personality traits is highly complex, requiring advanced statistical techniques to fully understand.

Interest in the psychological roots of political attitudes has grown significantly in recent years. Media reports and public commentators often question whether high-profile political activists are driven by genuine moral concerns or hidden narcissistic motives. This public curiosity aligns with academic research exploring the connections between political extremism and the Dark Triad of personality traits.

The Dark Triad encompasses three distinct but related personality types. Narcissism involves grandiosity, a sense of entitlement, and a deep need for admiration. Psychopathy is characterized by impulsivity, thrill-seeking, and a profound lack of empathy. Machiavellianism involves a cynical worldview and a tendency to manipulate others for personal gain.

A specific concept known as the dark-ego-vehicle principle proposes that people with dark personality traits are attracted to certain forms of political activism. According to this idea, these individuals use ideological movements as a convenient vehicle to satisfy their own ego-driven desires, such as gaining social status or dominating others, rather than striving for actual social justice. A 2024 study introduced this principle to the scientific literature, suggesting a positive link between left-wing authoritarianism and traits like narcissism and psychopathy.

Left-wing authoritarianism, sometimes abbreviated as LWA, generally refers to a rigid, aggressive enforcement of progressive moral values. The construct involves three main dimensions. Anti-hierarchical aggression describes a willingness to challenge, oppose, or overthrow established power structures, sometimes using force. Anticonventionalism involves an absolute rejection of traditional moral values and societal norms. Top-down censorship is the preference for using governmental or institutional authority to suppress speech that the individual deems offensive or intolerant.

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Alexandra (Sasha) Cook, an assistant professor of work and organizational psychology at the University of Amsterdam, noticed theoretical inconsistencies in the previous research linking narcissism to left-wing authoritarianism. Authoritarianism typically requires an individual to submit to the established norms of their specific social group. Narcissism, on the other hand, involves an inflated sense of self-importance and a desire to dominate others. Submitting to group norms seems entirely at odds with the narcissistic need to stand out and feel socially superior.

Cook and her colleagues also identified methodological issues in the 2024 study that originally proposed the dark-ego-vehicle principle. They pointed out that the previous paper relied on standard linear regressions, a basic statistical method that they claim could not adequately model the complicated, simultaneous relationships between all the sub-dimensions of the Dark Triad and left-wing authoritarianism. The researchers asserted that in standard regression models, the shared variance between multiple related traits is often obscured, leading to potentially inaccurate conclusions.

“Curiosity and possibly my own personal need for closure” led to the new investigation, Cook said. “I read the original paper and noticed that the second study did not examine two of the three LWA subdimensions, which seemed worth checking, since they are all relevant subdimensions of the same higher-order construct.”

To get a more accurate picture, the authors decided to reanalyze the original data using a more advanced statistical approach. “Also, since many of the variables are significantly correlated, it seemed relevant to assess whether the results would be robust to a method that accounts for these correlations,” Cook explained. “Since the authors made their original data publicly available, we decided to run the analyses and take a look.”

The researchers utilized the original dataset from the 2024 study. This dataset included 375 participants based in the United States. The sample was roughly split by gender, with 50.7 percent identifying as female. Additionally, 53 percent of the participants reported an affiliation with the Democratic Party.

To measure dark personality traits, the participants had completed the Short Dark Triad questionnaire, which assesses narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. Left-wing authoritarianism was measured using the Left-Wing Authoritarian Index. The survey also included measures of virtue signaling, social justice commitment, age, and gender. Virtue signaling refers to the habit of expressing opinions primarily to demonstrate one’s good character and moral superiority to observers.

Cook and her team analyzed this data using structural equation modeling. Specifically, they employed a structural-after-measurement approach. This advanced statistical technique separates the estimation of the measurement models and the structural models into two distinct steps.

This method reduces complexity and increases stability, particularly when dealing with relatively small sample sizes. By accounting for how all the Dark Triad traits and authoritarian dimensions interact at the exact same time, the scientists could isolate the specific influence of each individual trait.

The analysis revealed that narcissism was negatively related to overall left-wing authoritarianism. Higher levels of narcissism actually predicted lower levels of anti-hierarchical aggression and lower levels of anticonventionalism. Narcissism showed no relationship at all with top-down censorship.

“It was a surprise that the results showed a picture that, to a large extent, was at odds with the conclusions of the original paper,” Cook told PsyPost. “Firstly, we found negative relationships between narcissism and two of the left-wing authoritarianism dimensions, which is directly opposed to the authors’ original hypotheses.”

This finding directly contradicts the prior claim that narcissistic individuals are highly attracted to left-wing authoritarianism. In fact, the data provides evidence that the exact opposite tends to be true. The researchers suggest that the previous study’s positive association between narcissism and left-wing authoritarianism was a methodological artifact. The earlier statistical method failed to account for shared overlaps between different personality traits, leading to an inaccurate conclusion about narcissistic behavior.

Cook and her colleagues did find a positive association between psychopathy and left-wing authoritarianism. Specifically, higher levels of psychopathy were linked to higher levels of anti-hierarchical aggression and anticonventionalism. But Machiavellianism, the third Dark Triad trait, was completely unrelated to left-wing authoritarianism or any of its sub-dimensions.

The researchers also looked closely at the psychological motivations behind progressive attitudes. The original 2024 paper suggested that some left-wing activists do not actually care about equality, but merely use politics to express their own antisocial needs. The new structural equation modeling analysis paints a very different picture of progressive activism.

“We also found that social justice commitment was consistently and positively associated with left-wing authoritarianism, which contradicts the original paper’s conclusion that some activists ‘do not actually strive for social justice’,” Cook said.

The data suggests that individuals who score high on left-wing authoritarianism are indeed driven by a commitment to equality and social justice. The presence of some psychopathic traits in the data does not erase the foundational role of genuine social justice motives among left-wing individuals.

“The relationships between personality and political ideology (or activism) are complex, and psychological research does not provide straightforward answers,” Cook explained. “However, our results do not support the idea that left-wing authoritarianism (as a form of left-wing ideology) is structurally driven by narcissism or egotistical needs.”

Several important limitations provide context for interpreting these findings, particularly regarding the concept of psychopathy. “When we talk about narcissism and psychopathy, we do not necessarily talk about the everyday understanding of ‘narcissist’ or ‘psychopaths’,” Cook pointed out. “There is a difference between the common understanding (and interpretation) of these words and the definitions and measures in psychological science.”

The overall levels of psychopathy reported in the sample were quite low. “In this research, we are not comparing pathological psychopaths to ‘non-psychopaths’, but we are looking at (often small) differences in agreement with statements about aspects such as high impulsivity and a tendency to want to get revenge,” Cook said.

“In the sample, the average psychopathy scores were on the lower side, which means that higher psychopathy can reflect a tendency to choose the answer option ‘slightly disagree’ or ‘neutral’ rather than ‘disagree’,” she added. “In fact, most people do not score the lowest score on a psychopathy scale (everyone can take the questionnaire for free here: https://openpsychometrics.org/tests/SD3/).”

The phrasing of specific questions on the psychopathy survey also presents potential issues for interpreting the data. Some items ask if a person avoids dangerous situations or gets into trouble with the law. These questions might inadvertently measure participation in political protests rather than actual psychopathy.

Other survey items present similar risks of circular reasoning. The survey asks participants if they enjoy having sex with people they hardly know as a measure of psychopathy. The researchers note that this question might simply reflect anticonventionalism or the more permissive sexual behaviors sometimes associated with progressive attitudes.

“I think it’s important that people are aware of these methodological details, and I think it is our responsibility as researchers to communicate them in a clearer way,” Cook said.

Future studies need to examine these relationships in populations with a much wider range of psychopathy scores. Scientists should also evaluate the specific wording of survey questions to ensure they are not confusing political behavior with dark personality traits.

“Personally, I am interested in investigating further why people are so ready to believe that political activism is inauthentic or driven by ulterior motives, especially when others’ views do not align with their own political beliefs,” Cook said. “I think this blocks us from truly engaging with others’ opinions and motivations.”

A comprehensive understanding of political behavior requires looking past a single focus on authoritarianism and accounting for the complex realities of human motivation.

“I think psychological research can and will offer important insights into how we can deal with political differences, but I don’t believe that looking at stable, negative personality traits of people on a specific side of the political spectrum is a particularly useful approach, because it doesn’t offer any solutions,” Cook explained.

“Beyond the specific content and findings, I think that this paper and how it came to existence show again that open science and data transparency are very relevant for psychological science,” she concluded.

The study, “The whole picture: looking, again, at left-wing authoritarianism and its associations with dark personality traits,” was authored by Alexandra (Sasha) Cook, Bertolt Meyer, and Frank Asbrock.