Beyond Religious Narcissistic Identification: Agnostic and Atheistic Narcissism

Author First name, Last name, Institution

• Magdalena Żemojtel-Piotrowska, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw
• Jarosław Piotrowski, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw
• Bartłomiej Nowak, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw
• Vassilis Saroglou, UCLouvain
• John Maltby, University of Leicester
• Constantine Sedikides, University of Southampton
• Mladen Adamovic, King's College London
• Nur Amali Aminnuddin, Universiti Brunei Darussalam
• Seth Christopher Yaw Appiah, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology
• Rahkman Ardi, Universitas Airlangga
• Zana Hasan Babakr, Soran University
• Einar Baldvin Baldursson, Aalborg University
• Sergiu Bălțătescu, University of Oradea
• Muhammed Bilgehan Aytaç, Aksaray Üniversitesi
• Aidos Bolatov, “University Medical Center” Corporate Fund
• Bruno Bonfá-Araujo, Universidade Tuiuti do Parana
• Matthias Burghart, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime
• Phatthanakit Chobthamkit, Thammasat University
• Marilyn Clark, L-Università ta' Malta
• Magali Clobert, Université de Caen Normandie
• Richard G. Cowden, Harvard University
• Jesus Alonso Datu, The University of Hong Kong
• Sandesh Dhakal, Tribhuvan University
• Sonya Dragova-Koleva, New Bulgarian University
• Begoña Espejo, Universitat de València
• Dmitry Grigoryev, Independent Researcher
• Emanuela Gritti, Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo
• Katherine Gundolf, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, School of Engineering

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

International Journal for the Psychology of Religion

Publication Date

5-8-2026

Abstract

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.

DOI Link

10.1080/10508619.2026.2656828

ISSN

1050-8619

Publisher

Informa UK Limited

Volume

36

Issue

3

First Page

539

Last Page

555

Disciplines

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Keywords

Narcissism (0.92) | Psychology (0.65) | Social psychology (0.39) | Psychoanalysis (0.37) | Grandiosity (0.24) | Resentment (0.22) | Philosophy (0.21) | Epistemology (0.21) | Psychotherapist (0.2) | Religious experience (0.2)

Scopus ID

105038345420

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Żemojtel-Piotrowska, Magdalena; Piotrowski, Jarosław; Nowak, Bartłomiej; Saroglou, Vassilis; Maltby, John; Sedikides, Constantine; Adamovic, Mladen; Aminnuddin, Nur Amali; Appiah, Seth Christopher Yaw; Ardi, Rahkman; Babakr, Zana Hasan; Baldursson, Einar Baldvin; Bălțătescu, Sergiu; Aytaç, Muhammed Bilgehan; Bolatov, Aidos; Bonfá-Araujo, Bruno; Burghart, Matthias; Chobthamkit, Phatthanakit; Clark, Marilyn; Clobert, Magali; Cowden, Richard G.; Datu, Jesus Alonso; Dhakal, Sandesh; Dragova-Koleva, Sonya; Espejo, Begoña; Grigoryev, Dmitry; Gritti, Emanuela; and Gundolf, Katherine, "Beyond Religious Narcissistic Identification: Agnostic and Atheistic Narcissism" (2026). All Works. 8141.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/works/8141

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

yes

Open Access Type

Green: A manuscript of this publication is openly available in a repository