Power, Politics, and Paranoia
Why People are Suspicious of their Leaders

Why are people frequently suspicious of their political and corporate leaders? This book examines the psychological roots of political paranoia.

Jan-Willem van Prooijen (Edited by), Paul A. M. van Lange (Edited by)

9781107035805, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 29 May 2014

340 pages, 27 b/w illus. 8 tables
23 x 15.3 x 2.3 cm, 0.53 kg

'Power, Politics, and Paranoia does the discipline a valuable service by bringing … these three research literatures together … This volume is an important illustration of how power and paranoia are not simple reflections of individuals' psychological characteristics, but are informed by their position within groups and their group's position within the larger society.' Heather J. Smith and Stephanie McKee, Social Justice Research

Powerful societal leaders - such as politicians and Chief Executives - are frequently met with substantial distrust by the public. But why are people so suspicious of their leaders? One possibility is that 'power corrupts', and therefore people are right in their reservations. Indeed, there are numerous examples of unethical leadership, even at the highest level, as the Watergate and Enron scandals clearly illustrate. Another possibility is that people are unjustifiably paranoid, as underscored by some of the rather far-fetched conspiracy theories that are endorsed by a surprisingly large portion of citizens. Are societal power holders more likely than the average citizen to display unethical behaviour? How do people generally think and feel about politicians? How do paranoia and conspiracy beliefs about societal power holders originate? In this book, prominent scholars address these intriguing questions and illuminate the many facets of the relations between power, politics and paranoia.

1. Power, politics, and paranoia: an introduction Jan-Willem van Prooijen and Paul A. M. van Lange
Part I. Power: 2. The effects of power on immorality Joris Lammers and Ilja van Beest
3. Do we give power to the right people? When and how norm violators rise to the top Eftychia Stamkou and Gerben van Kleef
4. The leaders' rosy halo: why do we give powerholders the benefit of the doubt? Pamela K. Smith and Jennifer R. Overbeck
5. 'Power corrupts' revisited: the role of construal of power as opportunity or responsibility Kai Sassenberg, Naomi Ellemers, Daan Scheepers and Annika Scholl
Part II. Politics: 6. Never trust a politician? Collective distrust, relational accountability, and voter response Susan T. Fiske and Federica Durante
7. Political distrust: the seed and fruit of popular empowerment Fouad Bou Zeineddine and Felicia Pratto
8. All power to our great leader: political leadership under uncertainty John J. Haller and Michael A. Hogg
9. Those who supported and voted for Berlusconi. A social-psychological profile of the willing followers of a controversial political leader Antonio Chirumbolo and Luigi Leone
10. A growing confidence gap in politics? Data versus discourse Rudy B. Andeweg
Part III. Paranoia: 11. Misconnecting the dots: origins and dynamics of outgroup paranoia Roderick M. Kramer and Jennifer Schaffer
12. Political paranoia and conspiracy theories Viren Swami and Adrian Furnham
13. The social dimension of belief in conspiracy theories Jan-Willem van Prooijen and Paul A. M. van Lange
14. Examining the monological nature of conspiracy theories Robbie M. Sutton and Karen M. Douglas
15. The role of paranoia in a dual-process motivational model of conspiracy belief Marc Wilson and Chelsea Rose
16. Searching for the root of all evil: an existential-sociological perspective on political enemyship and scapegoating Daniel Sullivan, Mark J. Landau, Zachary K. Rothschild and Lucas A. Keefer.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP], Social, group or collective psychology [JMH], Psychology [JM]