<story><title>What collective narcissism does to society</title><url>https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/11/group-narcissism/620632/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>Barrin92</author><text>Although the article makes an explicit distinction between tribalism and group narcissism it&amp;#x27;s not clear to me what it is or why the latter deserves to be treated like a distinct phenomenon.&lt;p&gt;In particular given the example of Portuguese people who have antagonistic reactions to Germany in the EU. Seems to me the pretty straightforward explanation is material&amp;#x2F;political. There is conflict of interest within an institution for power, and if anything the psychological narcissism is at best an epiphenomenon. It doesn&amp;#x27;t seem irrational. Instead of trying to get people to &amp;#x27;unlearn&amp;#x27; their behaviour it seems like the more straightforward way is to resolve the conflict by devolving power or something.&lt;p&gt;Same with the other example of US polarization. There is real material interests underpinning the groupings.</text></comment>
<story><title>What collective narcissism does to society</title><url>https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/11/group-narcissism/620632/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>jl6</author><text>Although the description of the phenomenon sounds plausible - it triggers the “oh yeah, I’ve definitely met one of &lt;i&gt;those&lt;/i&gt; types” reflex - the incredibly broad set of examples makes me question the idea’s explanatory power.&lt;p&gt;We’re offered everything from terrorists and racists through to sports teams and gender identity.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Now, she said, she’s terrified at how widely she’s finding it manifested across the globe.&lt;p&gt;If it’s everywhere, maybe it’s just part of the normal variation of human personality?</text></comment>