Abstract
Recent research suggests a potential association between anger and narcissism among politically right-leaning individuals (Hart & Stekler, 2022; Maglić et al., 2024). It also indicates a potential relationship between political extremism and anger (Marinthe et al., 2025; Dono et al., 2024). To test these hypotheses, 100 Midwest college students were surveyed and answered questions regarding their political orientation, level of narcissism, and level of anger. A multiple regression was performed, seeking to predict political orientation scores from anger and narcissism scores. We found anger and narcissism to not be significant predictors of political orientation, both together and separately. Anger and narcissism scores were found to be significant predictors of one another. While our hypotheses are unfounded, this study indicates the need for further research into the interaction between anger and narcissism in collegiate adults, as well as the necessity for a political orientation measure that better represents those with a high value of religion.
Keywords: political orientation, anger, narcissism, college student
Included in
Political Orientation as a Predictor for Collegiate Anger and Narcissism
Recent research suggests a potential association between anger and narcissism among politically right-leaning individuals (Hart & Stekler, 2022; Maglić et al., 2024). It also indicates a potential relationship between political extremism and anger (Marinthe et al., 2025; Dono et al., 2024). To test these hypotheses, 100 Midwest college students were surveyed and answered questions regarding their political orientation, level of narcissism, and level of anger. A multiple regression was performed, seeking to predict political orientation scores from anger and narcissism scores. We found anger and narcissism to not be significant predictors of political orientation, both together and separately. Anger and narcissism scores were found to be significant predictors of one another. While our hypotheses are unfounded, this study indicates the need for further research into the interaction between anger and narcissism in collegiate adults, as well as the necessity for a political orientation measure that better represents those with a high value of religion.
Keywords: political orientation, anger, narcissism, college student