I'm nice, therefore I go green: An investigation of pro-environmentalism in communal narcissists

Abstract

This work investigates the role that communal narcissism plays in consumers' pro-environmental decisions. Five studies suggest that while communal narcissists claim that they are proenvironmental, their behaviors do not support such claims. The findings indicate that communal narcissists may see pro-environmental actions as communal means that could potentially serve their agentic, self-directed motives. However, when pro-environmental actions are expected to pose a threat to self-interest, the 'me first' aspect of narcissism plays a more dominant role, resulting in lack of inclinations to engage in pro-environmental actions. This work also provides evidence for two boundary conditions (product public visibility and perceived social benefits) under which communal narcissists may behave more pro-environmentally. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations, as well as directions for future research are also discussed.

Mind–Body Practice Is Related to Pro-environmental Engagement Through Self-compassion and Global Identity Rather Than to Self-enhancement

“…We conducted an a priori power analysis using the Shiny App (Schoemann et al, 2017). We aimed for a test power of .80 and based effect size estimates on prior research (Gebauer et al, 2018;Loy & Reese, 2019;Marshall et al, 2015;Naderi, 2018). The Shiny App, which is limited to models with two mediators, suggested a sample of N = 321.…”

“…When it comes to the ego characteristics that stand for a boosted ego according to Gebauer et al (2018), a positive relation between self-esteem and pro-environmental engagement has been theorized but not empirically found yet (Allen & Ferrand, 1999). Research by Naderi (2018) suggested that communal narcissism is positively related to pro-environmental behavior, but only if it is perceived by others or does not involve self-sacrifice. Hence, it remains unclear as to whether a boosted ego as defined by Gebauer et al (2018) is related to pro-environmental engagement.…”

How to Encourage Energy Savings Behaviours? The Most Effective Incentives from the Perspective of European Consumers

“…[67] in their study argue that factors such as openness to change, environmental knowledge and influence history may have a more profound effect. Researchers also attempt to determine the significance of other factors relative to energy-saving behaviours and improving pro-ecological attitudes, such as, e.g., access to culture and participation in cultural activities [68], altruism [69] or communal narcissism [70]. Additionally, an increasing number of studies emphasize the importance of social factors, such as social and political trust in shaping energy-saving behaviours [71].…”

Communal narcissism, self-motives, and work effort

“…Some studies have assessed the relationship between narcissism and the willingness of individuals to engage in prosocial behaviors, along with the factors that lead to these motivations (Fatfouta & Schröder-Abé, 2018;Konrath, Ho & Zarins, 2016). For example, Naderi (2018) found that communal narcissists consider proenvironmental actions as communal means that serve their self-directed motives, but when they perceive the actions as a threat to their self-interest, they do not engage anymore in pro-environmental actions. Furthermore, communal narcissistic traits can increase daily life pro-environmental behavior for predominantly egoistic reasons but not for altruistic ones (Kesenheimer & Greitemeyer, 2021).…”