What Does Social Narcissism Have To Do With Anti-Science Conspiracy Theories?

People who believe their social group is “superior” may be more likely to distrust psychologists and believe in conspiracy theories about mental health, a new study suggests. The research reveals how social identity and narcissism can influence anti-science attitudes.

From a neuroscience perspective, narcissism is associated with alterations in brain regions linked to self-esteem, empathy, emotional reward, and social regulation. Studies show that people with narcissistic traits frequently exhibit altered functioning in the prefrontal cortex, the area responsible for social judgment, self-control, and evaluation of one's own actions, as well as reduced activation in regions related to empathy, such as the anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex.

There is also involvement of the dopaminergic reward system, especially in situations of admiration, status, and social validation, causing praise and recognition to strongly activate circuits linked to pleasure and personal value.

A new study has revealed a worrying link between social class narcissism and conspiratorial beliefs about mental health. According to researchers, people who believe their social group is "superior" to others tend to be more suspicious of psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychological treatments, viewing these professionals as manipulative or controlling.

Scientists call this “social class narcissism”: an exaggerated view of the importance of one's own group, accompanied by a strong sensitivity to criticism and hostility towards other social groups. According to research, this type of mindset can increase acceptance of conspiracy theories involving mental health and psychology.

To investigate this, researchers conducted four studies with almost 2,000 participants from Poland and the United States. In part of the research, volunteers answered questionnaires about their social beliefs, opinions about mental health and trust in psychology professionals.

Scientists also did an interesting experiment: in one of the studies, they temporarily induced feelings of social superiority in participants to see if this would change their opinions. After this manipulation, people began to demonstrate higher levels of conspiratorial beliefs related to psychological help.

The results showed that individuals with higher social narcissism were more likely to believe that psychologists and psychiatrists try to manipulate people, control thoughts or hide “truths” about mental health.

Furthermore, these beliefs were associated with more negative attitudes toward therapy and less knowledge about mental disorders.

Researchers believe this phenomenon helps explain why anti-science movements and misinformation about mental health have been growing in some social groups. According to them, when social identity becomes too rigid or defensive, scientific information can start to be seen as a threat.

The study reinforces the importance of combating mental health misinformation not only with scientific facts, but also by understanding emotional, social and identity factors that influence how people interpret science.

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Habitus of doubt? The role of social class narcissism in shaping psychological help conspiracy beliefs

Zuzanna Molenda, Marta Marchlewska, Piotr Michalski, Marta Rogoza, Paulina Bagrowska, Dominika Adamczyk, Maciej Grzeszczuk, Łukasz Gawęda, Grzegorz Pochwatko, and Adam Karakula.

Abstract: 

Collective narcissism is known to fuel anti-scientific attitudes. However, its role in shaping conspiracy beliefs portraying those who use psychology to help others as manipulative or controlling remains largely unexplored. We argue that social class narcissism (i.e., exaggerated belief in the superiority of one's social group, along with sensitivity to criticism and hostility towards other groups) would foster psychological help conspiracy beliefs. Across three cross-sectional studies (N = 1863) among Polish and American participants, social class narcissism correlated with stronger psychological help conspiracy beliefs. In an experimental Study 2 (N = 1371), primed social class narcissism increased such beliefs. The last two studies further showed that social class narcissism was linked to negative attitudes towards psychological help via higher psychological help conspiracy beliefs (Studies 3–4) and lower mental health literacy (Study 4). Our findings highlight the importance of incorporating social identities into interventions targeting anti-scientific attitudes in psychology.