The Link Between Religiosity and National Identity in Contemporary Poland: Extended Prosociality or Collective Narcissism?

Abstract

Religion is frequently a key component of national identity. This is notably true in Poland, where national identity is strongly tied to traditional Catholic values. In the present study, we examine the relationship between religious commitment (indicated by self-identification as religious and frequency of practice) and two kinds of national identity in Poland: national collective narcissism, an exaggerated belief in an in-group’s greatness that is insufficiently recognized by others; and national ingroup satisfaction, a belief in the value of the national ingroup. We predicted that although both forms of national identity would be linked to religious commitment, Polish collective narcissism would have an especially strong relationship with religiosity, given that populist rhetoric in Poland relies on grievance-oriented nationalist appeals that emphasize threats to Poland’s traditional Catholic character. In cross-sectional and dynamic analyses using data from a six-wave panel study of Polish adults, we find support for these predictions, though we do not find clear evidence that within-person changes in collective narcissism and ingroup satisfaction are linked with within-person changes in religiosity.