A multinational study of social attitudes, moral beliefs, and personality traits: a network analysis approach

This study investigates psychological variables central to promoting social cohesion and prosocial behavior across cultures. Using network analysis on data from 44,407 participants in 54 countries, we examined relationships among seven constructs: social belonging (SB), individual narcissism (Nrc), national narcissism (NrN), trait optimism (TrO), self-esteem (SE), moral identity (MI), and morality as cooperation (MC). Positive relationships were found among SB, SE, and TrO. Notably, individual narcissism was negatively associated with SB and TrO, highlighting its detrimental impact on social cohesion. Centrality analysis identified moral identity (MI) as the most interconnected variable, linking both forms of narcissism and contributing to greater SB, TrO, and MC. Self-esteem also played a significant role by bridging connections with narcissistic traits. Overall, the findings underscore a distinction between individual and social motives: while narcissists may use self-esteem and moral identity for self-serving purposes, positive traits like social belonging enhance and contribute to societal well-being and progress.