Paranoia and conspiracy are terms typically used interchangeably. However, although the underlying content of these types of beliefs might be similar (e.g., seeing others as powerful and threatening), recent research suggests that these constructs differ in important ways. One important feature shared by both constructs is excessive mistrust but this aspect might play different roles in each belief system. In this study we explored the strength of associations of different trust predictors (i.e., trust in institutions, trust in sources of information, perceptual trust, and interpersonal trust) between conspiracy mentality and paranoid beliefs. We tested this association in a large representative multinational sample (United Kingdom = 2025; Spain = 1951; and Ireland = 1041). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor model of conspiracy and paranoid beliefs in each nation sample. Path and equality of constraints analysis revealed that paranoia was more strongly associated with perceptual mistrust (bias towards mistrusting unfamiliar faces) whereas conspiracy was more strongly associated with mistrust in political institutions. Although interpersonal mistrust and trust in social sources of information were associated significantly with conspiracy their association with paranoid beliefs was stronger. These findings clarify the role of different trust processes in both belief systems. Limitations of this study are discussed.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1023366 | DOI Listing |
Acta Psychol (Amst)
December 2024
School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; LKC Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; National Institute of Education, Singapore; Centre for Research and Development in Learning, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Technological advances render the distinction between artificial (e.g., computer-generated faces) and real stimuli increasingly difficult, yet the factors driving our beliefs regarding the nature of ambiguous stimuli remain largely unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCommun Psychol
December 2024
Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
Paranoia (believing others intend harm) and excess teleological thinking (ascribing too much purpose) are non-consensual beliefs about agents. Human vision rapidly detects agents and their intentions. Might paranoia and teleology have roots in visual perception? Using displays that evoke the impression that one disc ('wolf') is chasing another ('sheep'), we find that paranoia and teleology involve perceiving chasing when there is none (studies 1 and 2) - errors we characterize as social hallucinations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrials
December 2024
Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK.
Background: Paranoia, the belief that you are at risk of significant physical or emotional harm from others, is a common difficulty, which causes significant distress and impairment to daily functioning, including in psychosis-spectrum disorders. According to cognitive models of psychosis, paranoia may be partly maintained by cognitive processes, including interpretation biases. Cognitive bias modification for paranoia (CBM-pa) is an intervention targeting the bias towards interpreting ambiguous social scenarios in a way that is personally threatening.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Cogn Psychother
November 2024
Clinical Psychology Programme and Clinical & Health Psychology Centre, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore
The clinical literature encourages further exploration of the relationship between anxiety and paranoid ideation with the overall objective of identifying processes that mitigate such relationship, thus establishing targets for cognitive intervention. Empirical studies demonstrate that increased levels of anxiety precede the emergence of paranoid cognitions. Yet, possible mediators are still to be investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Psychiatry
October 2024
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
Introduction: Much research on the treatment of paranoia has involved cognitive-behavioural interventions that address explicit social cognition processes. However, much of human cognition is preverbal or implicit, raising the possibility that such social judgements are implicated in paranoia. One type of implicit social cognition that has been investigated concerning paranoia is implicit self-esteem with some evidence that it may be possible to change implicit self-esteem using techniques based on conditioning theory.
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