Pathologizing models treat collective conspiracy belief as a scaled-up mental disorder

Evidence

Richard Hofstadter was inclined to pathologize conspiracy thinking: he talked about the “paranoid style” as a fundamental sickness of the mind. It was distinguished from the paranoia of individuals—“a chronic mental disorder characterized by systematized delusions of persecution and of one’s own greatness”—but only by degree. The spokesman for the paranoid style, he wrote, sees not himself as under attack, “but a nation, a culture, a way of life whose fate affects not himself alone but millions of others.” — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 148

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the classic Hofstadter ‘paranoid style’ concept the rest of the chapter contests.
• XREF: connects to: Conspiracy belief stems from universal human meaning-making rather than outsider pathology — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 32; Conspiracy belief is universal across demographics while specific theories split along party lines — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 93

Broader Connections

• Conspiracy belief stems from universal human meaning-making rather than outsider pathology #complicates (0.85) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 32
• Conspiracy belief is universal across demographics while specific theories split along party lines #complicates (0.75) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 93