Raw Concepts: Collective Narcissism
In recent posts I’ve been discussing the connections between individual psychology and other forms of psychology that focus on collective behavior, like group psychology, cultural psychology, and evolutionary psychology. I want to do more posts in the future showing how understanding individual behavior can help clarify collective behavior.
Another example is collective narcissism, and I thought this table from the Wikipedia entry for collective narcissism captured it quite well:
To wit:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html
The Farrans said the HOA had a reputation for hard-line stances. In one case, board member Don Hughes compared some residents’ refusal to install window-pane dividers to the “cat and mouse game Saddam Hussein played with the USA,” e-mails show. Ultimately, Hussein “paid the price,” he said, concluding that the residents should comply.
Good stuff Mark
You could say that the typical cult member is a narcissistic type who is too beaten down or passive to go it alone.
How could you possibly buy into something like Scientology without thinking, very fervently, you have a Special Calling?
Plenty of narcissists vastly overestimate their ability to influence people just as many greatly exaggerate their beauty. But none the less a few people are quite stunning, whether they are narcissists or not. I’d say the same about people who are naturally influential; despite the over-fawning that narcissists do there are a few individuals who are genuinely talented at influencing people and they can’t all be narcissists.
Hey Ricky you should check out the book “The True Believer” by Eric Hoffer if you’re getting into group dynamics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_True_Believer
Hoffer points out that people often join mass movements not because they believe in what the group seeks to accomplish but because they don’t have faith in themselves.
From the wiki article:
“Mass movements appeal to frustrated people who are dissatisfied with their current state, but are capable of a strong belief in the future. As well, mass movements appeal to people who want to escape a flawed self by creating an imaginary self and joining a collective whole.”
I hope I didn’t give the impression that I believe anyone who is talented at influencing people must be a narcissist. I don’t believe that. I think among people who ARE talented at influencing others though, the ones who can’t keep the followers because they either keep burning bridges or lead them into disaster are the narcissists. It’s not just the charm alone so much as what they do with the charm once it works that defines the narcissist.
Thanks for that Keith. I was about to put in an Amazon order for some books on cults, I will add that to the list. I was getting two books by Arthur Deikman about cults, I’ll add your recommendation too.