At first glance, narcissism and religion seem like an unlikely pair. Religious traditions usually promote humility, selflessness, and community care. Narcissism is a personality trait characterized by egotism, a sense of superiority, and a strong feeling of entitlement. This stark contrast raises an interesting question about how individuals with strong narcissistic traits interact with religious beliefs and communities.

Previous studies looking at broad connections between narcissism and religion have yielded mixed results. Some research suggests religious individuals actually score higher on general narcissism scales than non-religious people. Other sets of data show no significant relationship at all between grandiose narcissism and a person’s overall level of faith. To make sense of these apparent contradictions, researchers decided to break down both narcissism and religiosity into more specific categories.

“What drew my attention was that although research on trait narcissism has been growing rapidly, we still know relatively little about how it relates to religiosity,” said study author Julia Tokarz, a doctoral candidate at the University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Psychology and a member of the Personality Intelligence Cognition Lab. “Previous studies were quite limited and did not take into account the current three-factor model of narcissism.”

Abstract.

Although the link between narcissism and religiosity appears to be ambiguous, a more nuanced approach to both constructs may reveal specific patterns. This research aimed to explore links between different dimensions of narcissism and various aspects of religiosity. Study 1 revealed that all facets of narcissism (agentic, antagonistic, neurotic, communal) were associated with extrinsic religious orientation, indicating an overall stronger desire to engage in religious practices driven by instrumental motives. In the second study, agentic and antagonistic narcissism were related to a punitive God’s image, whereas the antagonistic facet was also inversely related to positive religious coping, loving God image, and general religiosity. In the third study, divine entitlement (i.e.