Emotion (dys)regulation and national narcissism

Abstract Emotional struggles have the potential to shape our perceptions of the social world. This research examined how emotion dysregulation—a difficulty in managing one's emotional experiences—relates to national narcissism, an inflated belief in the unparalleled greatness of one's nation, often driven by psychological shortcomings. Across three cross‐sectional studies conducted among British ( N = 473), American ( N = 444), and Polish ( N = 633) participants, we found that deficiencies in emotion regulation were consistently linked to higher national narcissism. Importantly, national narcissism partially accounted for the link between emotion dysregulation and conspiracy beliefs. These results extend prior work by illuminating the emotional underpinnings of national narcissism and demonstrating how individual emotional challenges resonate within broader social phenomena.