Conspiracy mentality, subclinical paranoia, and political conservatism are associated with perceived status threat.

ABSTRACT: Status threat (i.e., concern that one's dominant social group will be undermined by outsiders) is a significant factor in current United States politics. While demographic factors such as race (e.g., Whiteness) and political affiliation (e.g., conservatism) tend to be associated with heightened levels of status threat, its psychological facets have yet to be fully characterized. Informed by a "paranoid" model of American politics, we explored a suite of possible psychological and demographic associates of perceived status threat, including race/ethnicity, political conservatism, analytic thinking, magical ideation, subclinical paranoia, and conspiracy mentality. In a small, quota sample drawn from the United States (N = 300), we found that conspiracy mentality, subclinical paranoia, conser

SUBMITTER: Koller WN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10664880 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature