?
‘I wish we could but I don’t want to’: How are secure and defensive national identities related to political behavior in Russia?
National identity is a key predictor of political behavior. However, scholars distinguish between its secure and defensive, narcissistic forms. The relationship between defensive and secure forms of national identity and various forms of political behavior was analyzed within the Russian context. Two cross-sectional studies examined how these two forms of national identity may be associated with willingness to participate in various political activities. The results indicated that secure national identification was positively related to pro-establishment political behavior and civic participation, while being negatively related to anti-establishment political behavior. In contrast, national narcissism was positively associated only with pro-establishment political behavior. These findings are interpreted in light of the distinct intragroup consequences of secure versus defensive national identity.