Ann Krispenz’s research while affiliated with University of Mannheim and other places

According to the recently proposed dark-ego-vehicle principle (DEVP), individuals high in dark-personality traits (e.g., narcissism, psychopathy) tend to be attracted to certain kinds of (political) ideologies if and when these ideologies can be used to satisfy their dark needs. With the present pre-registered longitudinal study, we attempted to falsify the DEVP in the context of antisemitism. In this regard, we predicted positively directed relationships between certain dark-personality traits (i.e., grandiose narcissism, antagonistic narcissism, psychopathy) and antizionist antisemitism. Individuals from several samples from the US and the UK (N = 3,981) completed validated psychometric measures of antisemitic attitudes. This data was correlated with several variables which had already been assessed previously: individuals’ dark-personality traits and specific dark-personality-needs indicators (e.g., aggression, virtue signaling). The results showed a failed falsification of the DEVP: The vast majority of the correlations between the examined dark-personality traits and antisemitism were positively directed. This was not only true for antizionist antisemitism but also for the classical Judeophobic antisemitism. The overall pattern of the found relationships was in line with the DEVP and its assumption that individuals high in dark-personality traits, particularly in antagonistic narcissism and psychopathy, may be attracted to antisemitic ideology.

The dark-ego-vehicle principle (DEVP) suggests that individuals with so-called dark personalities (e.g., high narcissistic traits) are attracted to political and social activism that they can repurpose to satisfy their specific ego-focused needs (e.g., signaling moral superiority and manipulating others) instead of achieving prosocial goals. Currently, research on the DEVP is still rare. With two pre-registered studies, we sought further evidence for the DEVP by examining the associations of pathological narcissistic grandiosity with involvement in LGBQ activism (Study 1) and gender identity activism (Study 2). Socioeconomically diverse samples from the USA (Study 1; N = 446) and the UK (Study 2; N = 837) were recruited online via the research-oriented crowdsourcing platform Prolific. Individuals completed the Pathological Narcissism Inventory as well as measures of involvement in activism. Moreover, we assessed different covariates (e.g., altruism), and potential correlates within the narcissism–activism relationship (i.e., virtue signaling, dominance, and aggression). In addition, we examined potential relationships between other dark personality variables (e.g., psychopathy) and activism. In both samples, higher pathological narcissistic grandiosity was related to greater involvement in activism. As expected, virtue signaling was consistently involved in the relationship between pathological narcissistic grandiosity and activism. However, neither dominance nor aggression was related to individuals’ involvement in activism. The results did also not consistently support a relationship between higher psychopathy and greater involvement in activism. Overall, the findings help to further specify the DEVP.

In a pre-registered study, we sought initial evidence for the relationship between pathological narcissistic grandiosity and involvement in environmental activism. This relationship was predicted based on the dark-ego-vehicle principle (DEVP) for which research is currently still rare. Using a socio-demographically diverse US sample (N = 1,145), we not only aimed at conceptually replicating previous findings on the DEVP but also at examining differential patterns of narcissistic engagement in environmental activism. In particular, we expected higher pathological narcissistic grandiosity to be more strongly related to greater engagement in environmental leadership actions than to greater engagement in environmental participatory actions. Results support the validity of the DEVP by showing that higher pathological narcissistic grandiosity was related to greater involvement in environmental activism, even above and beyond relevant covariates (i.e., pathological narcissistic vulnerability, age, and gender). Also, we found positive relationships between involvement in environmental activism and typical correlates of pathological narcissistic grandiosity (i.e., virtue signaling, dominance, and sensation seeking). Contrary to our predictions, we did not find the relationship between pathological narcissistic grandiosity and environmental activism to be more intense for environmental leadership actions compared to environmental participatory actions. These results are discussed considering the DEVP.

Previous research investigating the correlates of sex/gender beliefs (i.e., “Sex/gender is binary and permanently fixed” vs. “Sex/gender is nonbinary or changeable”) massively focused on right-wing authoritarianism (RWA). In the present research, we aimed at conceptually replicating previous findings on the relationship between sex/gender beliefs and RWA conventionalism. Based on the authoritarianism symmetry hypothesis, as a novel aspect, we additionally investigated the association between sex/gender beliefs and left-wing authoritarianism (LWA) anti-conventionalism. In two pre-registered studies, socioeconomically diverse samples from the U.S. (N = 1,431) and the UK (N = 1,390) completed measures of sex/gender beliefs, RWA (and social dominance orientation in Study 2), and LWA. In line with our expectations, in both studies we found that binary/fixed sex/gender beliefs were strongly associated with RWA conventionalism while nonbinary/changeable sex/gender beliefs were strongly associated with LWA anti- conventionalism. Thus, in both studies, opposing sex/gender beliefs were related to rigid and restrictive authoritarianism on the opposing ideological sides. Our results lend support to the authoritarianism symmetry hypothesis and indicate that one-sided arguments about authoritarianism in specific sex/gender beliefs are shortsighted.

Research on left-wing authoritarianism (LWA) is still scarce in German-speaking coun-tries as a valid self-report measure is currently missing. The present research closes this gap by adapting the Left-Wing-Authoritarianism-Index (LWAI) from English and Span-ish into German (LWAI-G), testing its psychometric properties, and investigating its va-lidity considering the recently proposed dark-ego-vehicle principle (DEVP). For the pre-sent research, we applied the LWAI-G in a convenience sample from German-speaking countries (N = 388) and representative samples from Germany (N = 2,048), Austria (N = 837), and the German-speaking part of Switzerland (N = 826). Results showed that the LWAI-G demonstrates adequate psychometric properties, but only for the 13-item version of the LWAI-G the expected first-order factor structure with the three correlated LWA factors (antihierarchical aggression, anticonventionalism, and top-down censorship) emerged. Results further evidence the validity of the LWAI-G, particularly regarding spe-cific dark personality traits (e.g., narcissism, psychopathy).

According to the dark-ego-vehicle principle (Bertrams & Krispenz, 2024; Krispenz & Bertrams, 2023, 2024), individuals high in dark personality traits (e.g., narcissism, psychopathy) tend to be attracted to some kinds of (political) ideologies they can use to their own unpolitical personal advantage. This pre-registered longitudinal study investigated the dark-ego-vehicle principle in the context of anti-Semitism. Individuals from the US and the UK (N = 3,981) completed validated measures of anti-Semitic attitudes. Their data was matched to previously assessed dark personality traits (e.g., narcissism, psychopathy), specific dark-ego needs indicators (e.g., aggression, dominance, virtue signaling), and political variables (e.g., left- and right-wing authoritarianism). The results showed a pattern consistent with the dark-ego-vehicle principle: 94.7% of the 76 relationships between anti-Semitic attitudes and dark-personality traits (especially their antagonistic aspects) were positively related. All but one of the specific dark-ego needs indicators were to some extend associated with higher anti-Semitism. Finally, in support of the dark-ego-horseshoe hypothesis, different forms of anti-Semitism were associated with left- and/or right-wing authoritarianism.

Mentalising can be defined as the social-cognitive ability to understand and infer the mental non-emotional states of oneself and others. Recently, the Four-Item Mentalising Index (FIMI), a self-report scale, was developed to efficiently measure mentalising ability in English-speaking samples. This study presents a German translation of the FIMI—namely, the Four-Item Mentalising Index-German (FIMI-G). To assess the usefulness of the translation, initial evidence for the psychometric properties of the FIMI-G was gathered in a German-speaking sample from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland (N = 283). As expected, the corrected item-total correlations, the confirmatory factor analysis, and the inner consistency estimation indicated a homogenous, unidimensional measure which corresponds to the English original. In addition, the FIMI-G scores were related to the validation criteria as expected. Socially desirable responding did not undermine the validity. It is concluded that the German FIMI translation is a useful measure.

According to the dark-ego-vehicle principle (DEVP), individuals with so-called dark personalities (e.g., individuals with high narcissistic traits) are attracted to political and social activism not for the achievement of prosocial goals but to repurpose the activism to satisfy their specific ego-focused needs. In this pre-registered study, we aimed at replicating and extending previous empirical evidence for the DEVP by examining the associations of pathological narcissism with involvement in feminist activism. A diverse US sample (N = 458) completed online measures of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory and several covariates (i.e., altruism, self-identification as a feminist, and age). Paralleling previous research, higher pathological narcissistic grandiosity was found to be statistically significantly related to greater involvement in feminist activism. Unexpectedly, gender did not moderate this relationship. Also, higher pathological narcissism was related to stronger self-identification as a feminist; however, pathological narcissistic grandiosity explained some variance in the involvement in feminist activism over and above feminist self-identification. In exploratory secondary analyses, we found that higher pathological narcissism was associated with specific feminist conversational interaction behaviors (e.g., correcting other’s non-feminist language). The limitations (e.g., the relevance of other dark personality traits beyond narcissism) and the theoretical implications for the DEVP are discussed. Overall, the findings of the present study are further support for the DEVP.

According to the dark-ego-vehicle principle (DEVP), individuals with so-called dark personalities (e.g., high narcissistic traits) are attracted to political and social activism that they can repurpose to satisfy their specific ego-focused needs (e.g., signaling moral superiority and manipulating others) instead of achieving prosocial goals. Currently, research on the DEVP is still rare. With two pre-registered studies, we sought further evidence for the DEVP by examining the associations of pathological narcissistic grandiosity with involvement in LGBQ activism (Study 1) and gender identity activism (Study 2). Socio- economically diverse samples from the US (Study 1; N = 446) and the UK (Study 2; N = 837) completed the Pathological Narcissism Inventory as well as measures of involvement in the two forms of activism. Moreover, we assessed different covariates (e.g., altruism), and potential correlates within the narcissism—activism relationship (i.e., virtue signaling, dominance, and aggression). In addition, we examined potential relationships between other dark personality variables (e.g., psychopathy) and activism. In both samples, higher pathological narcissistic grandiosity was related to greater involvement in the respective activism. As expected, virtue signaling was consistently involved in the relationship between pathological narcissistic grandiosity and activism; however, this was neither the case for dominance nor aggression. Also, the results did not consistently support a relationship between higher psychopathy and greater involvement in activism. Overall, the findings help to further specify the DEVP.