How collective narcissism became contagious in public conversations of “Stop the Steal” on Twitter

Following the end of the Cold War, the rise of democracy and globalization fostered optimism about global cooperation and economic integration but also sparked debates on equity, leading to challenges such as economic disparities, cultural displacement, and populist movements. Collective narcissism, a concept introduced to understand self-identity and politics amid perceived threats to status, describes beliefs that the in-group is exceptional but lacks external recognition and is associated with adverse outcomes. Drawing from the Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects, this study investigates collective narcissism expressions on social media, focusing on the “Stop the Steal” movement after the 2020 US Presidential Election. Analyzing 11,836 original posts and their conversation threads, we studied the nature of collective narcissistic expression and its contagion effects. Results highlight national identity as a central theme, showing that such expressions spread through increased user engagement and are contagious from original posts to replies.