Thought contagion? Conspiracy beliefs boost paranoid thoughts.

Conspiracy theories accusing specific groups of secret malevolent actions can foster a perception of the world as a dangerous place. In our research, we contend that both adherence and exposure to conspiracy beliefs can serve as a potential cause of certain psychological problems in the form of paranoid thoughts. This hypothesis was tested in three studies conducted among Polish and British participants. In Study 1 (longitudinal, N = 603), we found that conspiracy beliefs exerted a positive overtime effect on paranoid thoughts. Experimental studies 2 (N = 384) and 3 (N = 445), showed that being exposed to conspiracy theories (vs. control stimuli) heightened paranoid thoughts. In Study 3, we proposed a potential mechanism explaining this effect, according to which exposure to conspiracies increased paranoid thoughts via only negative intense emotions. Our work adds to the discussion on the consequences of conspiracy beliefs and has implications for mental health research, underlining the importance of designing interventions limiting the adverse effects of conspiracy beliefs.

The general factor of personality is related to emotional, psychological, and social well-being.

BACKGROUND: The general factor of personality is defined as a blend of socially desirable attributes of basic personality traits. It is related to a variety of socially desirable qualities, including emotional well-being. However, its relationship with psychological and social well-being has been underexplored. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: Across three studies (N = 556, N = 448, N = 3,294) from three different countries (Poland, Spain, and USA), we show that the general factor of personality is highly related to a general factor of well-being and to its specific dimensions. RESULTS: Results from Study 1 confirmed this association using a basic measure of well-being (i.e., the Mental Health Continuum), results from Study 2 confirmed this association using six specific measures of well-being, while results from Study 3 reproduced a congruent result using a large-scale community sample. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings align with the existing literature stressing the positive link between the general factor of personality and aspects of well-being.

Coping strategies and belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories.

Conspiracy beliefs have been related to aversive emotional experiences often accompanying major world events and have also been linked to maladaptive ways of coping with stress. In this research, we examined how different coping strategies (i.e. self-sufficient, social-support, avoidance and religious) predicted the adoption of COVID-19 conspiracy theories. In two studies (Study 1, n = 1000 and Study 2, n = 616) conducted among Polish participants, we found that avoidance and religious coping were positively linked to COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs. In Study 1, conspiracy beliefs also mediated the positive relationships between avoidance and religious coping and adherence to safety and self-isolation guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study 2 additionally showed that the relationship between fear, induced by reading threatening news on COVID-19, and conspiracy beliefs was the strongest among those high in avoidance coping. These studies highlight the role of coping strategies in the adoption of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs.

When the sun goes down: low political knowledge and high national narcissism predict climate change conspiracy beliefs.

The present research empirically examines the links between political knowledge, national narcissism, and climate change conspiracy beliefs. National narcissism (i.e., an unrealistic belief about in-group's greatness which is maladaptive both from the perspective of intra- and inter-group processes) was previously linked to conspiracy beliefs. In this research, we hypothesized that low theoretical political knowledge would boost national narcissism and further lead to adopting climate change conspiracy theories. METHODS: This hypothesis was tested in a two-wave study conducted among Polish participants (N = 558). RESULTS: We found negative effect of political knowledge on climate change conspiracy beliefs. Moreover, national narcissism mediated between theoretical political knowledge and conspiracy beliefs. CONCLUSION: People having low political knowledge are prone to believe in climate change conspiracy theories. Moreover, those less informed about the way political system works in their country are more narcissistically identified with their nation and, thus, deny the climate change.

More identified so less envious? On the links between different types of national identity and in-group envy.

We investigate relations between benign and malicious in-group envy and the two types of national identity (i.e. secure national identification vs. national narcissism). In two studies (Ns = 1000 and 633), we found that secure national identification was negatively linked to malicious envy, while national narcissism was positively related to both malicious and benign envy. In Study 2, we additionally analyzed how in-group envy and two types of national identity shape in-group altruism. We found that low malicious envy significantly mediated the relationship between secure identification and in-group altruism. We discuss the role of envy in shaping the links between secure (vs. narcissistic) identity and positive intragroup attitudes.

Shake it off! Adaptive coping with stress reduces national narcissism.

Examining the role of coping with stress strategies in shaping national narcissism, we proposed that this type of defensive national commitment (stemming from psychological shortcomings) should be lowered by adaptive coping strategies. In Study 1 (longitudinal, N = 603), we found that higher adaptive (i.e. self-sufficient) coping attenuated national narcissism. In Study 2 (experimental, N = 337), the priming of adaptive coping significantly decreased national narcissism. We also demonstrated the indirect effects of the induced adaptive coping strategy on conspiracy beliefs via national narcissism. These findings suggest that using adaptive coping strategies (either dispositional or situationally induced) may attenuate national narcissism. We discuss the role of coping with stress in shaping group-level phenomena.

Psychometric properties of the ORTO-R in a community-based sample of women and men from Poland.

PURPOSE: Over the past two decades, orthorexia nervosa (ON) has been increasingly investigated. Recently, a new revision version of the ORTO-15, namely ORTO-R, was used. The main objective of the present study was to confirm the factor structure of Polish version of the ORTO-R for evaluating ON thoughts and behaviors. METHOD: In three studies, a total of 3081 participants was selected by random sampling through several universities and companies. In Study 1, we used original items of ORTO-15, in Study 2 we used both, the ORTO-15 items and the revised items from ORTO-R, and in Study 3 we used only the items from the ORTO-R. Confirmatory factor analysis was used for determining the factorial structure of the Polish version of the ORTO-R. We also assessed internal consistency and convergent and criterion validity of the ORTO-R. RESULTS: The model composed of the revised items (ORTO-R) was characterized of good convergent and criterion validity. Furthermore, ORTO-R appeared to be more internally consistent as compared to ORTO-15. CONCLUSION: The 6-item ORTO-R is valid and reliable method to assess orthorexic thoughts and behaviors among Polish-speaking population and could be applied in future research. Using revised version of the items is strongly preferred to using the items in their original ORTO-15 form.

From Individual Anxiety to Collective Narcissism? Adult Attachment Styles and Different Types of National Commitment.

National narcissism and national identification, two distinct types of national commitment, differ in terms of their psychological concomitants. Therefore, in the current article, we hypothesized that they would also relate to different adult attachment styles. Namely, we proposed that national narcissism would be positively associated with higher attachment anxiety, while national identification would be associated with lower attachment anxiety and avoidance. These hypotheses were tested in three cross-sectional surveys (Study 1 N = 570; Study 3 N = 558; Study 4 N = 649) and one longitudinal survey (Study 2 N = 808). In all studies, we found a consistent positive relationship between attachment anxiety and national narcissism, and a negative relationship between attachment avoidance and national identification. Finally, we also demonstrated indirect effects of attachment anxiety (via national narcissism) on maladaptive group-related outcomes: conspiracy beliefs, non-normative collective action, and willingness to conspire.

The devil is not as black as he is painted? On the positive relationship between food industry conspiracy beliefs and conscious food choices.

Previous research found that conspiracy beliefs were usually activated when individuals faced different types of psychological threats and that they led mainly to maladaptive individual and societal outcomes. In this research, we assumed that potential harmfulness of conspiracy beliefs may depend on the context, and we focused on the link between food industry conspiracy beliefs and conscious food choices. We hypothesized that food industry conspiracy beliefs may allow for a constructive attempt to protect oneself against real or imagined enemies (i.e., food industry companies) by conscious food choices (e.g., paying attention to how much the food products are processed). We tested this hypothesis among Polish participants (Study 1; N = 608; cross-sectional and Study 2; N = 790; experimental). Study 1 confirmed that context-specific conspiracy beliefs (but not general notions of conspiracy) are associated with adaptive consumer behaviors. Study 2 showed that inducing feelings of threat related to the possibility of purchasing food contaminated by a harmful bacteria (vs. control condition) increased food industry conspiracy beliefs, which were further positively linked to conscious food choices. We discuss the role of threat and conspiracy beliefs in adaptive consumer behaviors related to food choices.

Structure, Reliability, Measurement Stability, and Construct Validity of the Polish Version of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale.

The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) is a self-report questionnaire that aims to assess symptoms of anxiety and depressive disorders in children. Two studies were conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Polish version of the RCADS. Study 1 was conducted to analyze the structural validity and reliability of the RCADS scores and Study 2 assessed the longitudinal measurement of stability over time. Data were collected from a community sample of 501 children and adolescents aged 8 to 14 years in Poland. The original 47-item version of the Polish RCADS was compared with two shortened versions: 30- and 20-item versions. Overall results revealed support for the structural and construct validity, reliability, and stability of the Polish version of the RCADS.