The Father's Love: Collective Narcissism and Defensive Reactions to Allegations about Pope John Paul II in Polish Public Opinion.

This article examines how national and Catholic collective narcissism (CN)—defined as an exaggerated belief in the in-group's greatness requiring external validation—predict defensive political reactions among Polish Catholics to recent allegations that Pope John Paul II failed to act on clergy sexual abuse. Using data from a representative 2023 survey of Polish adults identifying as Roman Catholic, the study finds that both national and Catholic CN strongly predict defensive attitudes such as perceiving the allegations as offensive and deflecting blame from the pope, more so than nonnarcissistic in-group satisfaction (IS), which reflects pride without the need for external validation. Catholic CN, in particular, shows a stronger association with these defensive responses than national CN, highlighting the significant role of religious identity in shaping reactions. The findings suggest that collective narcissism motivates protective and hostile responses to criticism of valued in-group authorities, while in-group satisfaction is less linked to such defensiveness.