Conspiracy endorsement has previously been linked to national narcissism—an unrealistic belief in the greatness of the national in-group. In this research, we explore the role of the need for uniqueness in explaining why national narcissists seize on conspiracy theories. In Study 1 (N= 1,000), we found that a self-attributed need for uniqueness mediated the link between national narcissism and conspiracy beliefs. In Study 2 (N = 387), we introduced the novel concept in the form of a group-attributed need for uniqueness and found its role in explaining the relationship between national narcissism and conspiracy beliefs. In Study 3 (N= 799), we considered both types of the need for uniqueness and observed only group-attributed need for uniqueness as a significant mediator of the relationship between national narcissism and conspiracy beliefs. In Study 4 (N= 1,616), we experimentally increased national narcissism and observed its positive effect on conspiracy beliefs targeting in-group (vs. out-group) members. This effect was mediated by group-attributed need for uniqueness. Results shed light on psychological motives that may drive conspiracy beliefs among collective narcissists.
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