What do you call it when some group is feeling self-satisfaction by praising themselves?

Solution 1:

Mutual admiration society is apparently an expression in English, used at least as early as 1824.

A group of two or more people, in a workplace or other social environment, who routinely express considerable esteem and support for one another, sometimes to the point of exaggeration or pretense.

I was about to comment about the Swedish expression "klubben för inbördes beundran" that translates to pretty much the same thing, and found the English version while researching it.

Solution 2:

The potentially offensive phrase "circle jerk" literally means group masturbation, but is used metaphorically to describe this situation.

Solution 3:

I propose that self-congratulatory or self-important best capture a person who is complacent and self-praising. Words like smug or preening are more about the manner in which someone expresses conceit.

Solution 4:

You could try, smug, pompous, conceited or vain.

smug : highly self-satisfied

pompous: having or exhibiting self-importance

conceited: : having or showing an excessively high opinion of oneself

vain: having or showing undue or excessive pride in one's appearance or achievements

Solution 5:

Besides smugness, consider crowing, preening, and bragging. Brag means "to boast; to talk with excessive pride about what one has, can do, or has done."