We don't want your kind here: When people high in narcissism show prejudice against immigrants

Abstract

Despite the abundance of research linking frustration with prejudice, no research has examined the moderating role of personality. Two studies tested the prediction that narcissism would moderate the link between frustration and prejudice against immigrants in that individuals high in narcissism would show a stronger association than others. In Study 1 (n = 156), participants completed online surveys that measured narcissism, general frustration, and prejudice. Results confirmed that frustration and prejudice were more strongly correlated for those high in narcissism than for others. The second study was conducted to examine a more specific source of frustration using an experimental design. In Study 2 (n = 84), participants completed a narcissism survey, then they were randomly assigned to read an article on immigration that either threatened job outlooks or did not. They then completed a survey that measured prejudice. People high in narcissism who read the threatening article showed higher levels of prejudice than the other participants. © 2011 Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology.