In search of an imaginary enemy: Catholic collective narcissism and the endorsement of .

Gender studies have often been criticized for undermining family and religious values. In this paper, we argue that these criticisms exhibit the characteristics of conspiracy theories. We define as convictions that gender studies and gender-equality activists represent an ideology secretly designed to harm traditional values and social arrangements. In two studies conducted among Catholics in Poland (Study 1 = 1019; Study 2 = 223), we examined the prevalence of and their psychological concomitants. We hypothesized that should be associated with a defensive identification with one's religious group, captured by religious collective narcissism. In both studies, Catholic collective narcissism was demonstrated to be a robust predictor of . We additionally demonstrated that Catholic collective narcissism predicted outgroup hostility, and this effect was mediated by . We discuss the implications for gender-based prejudice.