Social class narcissism linked to anti-psychiatry conspiracy theories

New research published in the British Journal of Psychology suggests that holding an exaggerated sense of superiority about one’s social class tends to foster belief in conspiracy theories regarding psychological help. These attitudes can create barriers to seeking therapy. This provides evidence that how we view our social standing affects our physical and mental well-being.

Conspiracy theories are narratives proposing that groups of people are secretly plotting malicious acts. In the context of mental health, these beliefs suggest that psychologists or psychiatrists are trying to manipulate or control the public rather than genuinely help them. Such beliefs can discourage individuals from seeking professional support when they are struggling.

“Most of all, we were interested in how people perceive psychological help and mental health professionals, as well as what shapes these attitudes,” said Zuzanna Molenda, a postdoctoral researcher at the Political Cognition Lab within the Institute of Psychology at the Polish Academy of Sciences. “Some of these views take the form of conspiracy beliefs, narratives suggesting that mental health professionals actually work against the public or pursue hidden agendas.”

Molenda and her colleagues pursued the project to better understand how people construct these anti-scientific views. “We wanted to explore what predicts such beliefs and what they may be associated with, because this kind of thinking can become an important barrier to seeking psychological help,” she explained.

A known predictor of these types of beliefs is collective narcissism. This concept describes a defensive group identity where people believe their specific group is exceptional but unappreciated by others. People high in collective narcissism are highly sensitive to perceived threats from the outside world.

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Because they feel their group is constantly under attack, these individuals often adopt anti-scientific attitudes. Embracing conspiracy beliefs helps them explain away their group’s disadvantages and perceived lack of recognition. Blaming an outside enemy allows the group to maintain its sense of superiority.

Past work has mostly looked at collective narcissism on a national level, such as believing one’s country is superior to all others. The authors of the current paper wanted to explore identity based on social class. Social class refers to a person’s standing in society, often tied to income, education, and daily lifestyle.

Social class narcissism happens when people believe their specific socioeconomic group is superior yet entirely unrecognized. The scientists designed their project to see if this specific type of narcissism might foster distrust toward mental health professionals. They proposed that individuals might view therapy as a tool used by outsiders to challenge their group’s special status.

To test these ideas, the researchers conducted four separate studies using both Polish and American participants. In all the studies, they asked respondents to self-identify their social class as lower, middle, or upper. Based on this choice, the surveys adapted the text of the questions to match the participant’s specific social class.

In the first study, the authors surveyed a representative sample of 705 adults in Poland. Participants rated their agreement with statements measuring belief in psychological help conspiracies. An example statement suggested that the true aim of psychological therapy is to control people’s thoughts and emotions to make them more obedient.

The researchers also measured social class narcissism by asking participants to rate items like whether their chosen social class deserves special treatment. The findings showed that higher levels of social class narcissism correlated with stronger beliefs in psychological help conspiracies. This association remained significant even when accounting for a person’s education level and subjective financial situation.

For the second study, the scientists designed an experiment to see if they could temporarily induce social class narcissism. They recruited participants online and finalized a sample of 1,371 Polish adults. This final number was reached after excluding respondents who failed to properly read the instructions or answer basic comprehension questions.

Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In the experimental group, participants read a fabricated article stating that their specific social class is underestimated and deserves more respect. In the control group, participants read a neutral text about social classes.

After reading the materials, everyone completed the same psychological help conspiracy questionnaire used in the first study. The results indicated that participants in the group primed to feel social class narcissism showed significantly higher belief in psychological conspiracies compared to the control group. This provides evidence that activating social class narcissism can directly increase suspicious attitudes toward mental health professionals.

The third study aimed to replicate the initial findings in a different cultural setting. The authors recruited 511 residents of the United States through an online platform. Participants answered the same survey questions about social class narcissism and psychological conspiracy beliefs.

The American participants also answered questions about their willingness to seek professional psychological help if they were experiencing a mental breakdown. This allowed the researchers to measure positive attitudes toward therapy. The survey also collected data on annual net income and education levels.

The data from the American sample mirrored the Polish data, showing that social class narcissism was linked to stronger psychological help conspiracy beliefs. The researchers also found that these conspiracy beliefs acted as a bridge connecting social class narcissism to negative attitudes toward seeking therapy. This suggests that people with high social class narcissism tend to avoid psychological help specifically because they endorse conspiracy theories about it.

In the fourth study, the scientists returned to a representative Polish sample of 647 adults. They wanted to add another variable to their model known as mental health literacy. This concept refers to a person’s factual knowledge about mental health conditions and the realities of psychiatric treatments.

Participants completed expanded versions of the previous surveys. They also answered a new questionnaire testing whether they believed factual or false statements about mental health. An example item tested the knowledge that individuals without a severe diagnosis can still benefit from seeing a psychotherapist.

Similar to the previous studies, social class narcissism predicted higher conspiracy beliefs. The authors also found that social class narcissism was associated with lower mental health literacy. The analysis showed that a lack of factual knowledge combined with a heightened sense of group superiority tends to push people away from professional mental health care.

These findings highlight the complex role of social status in medical decision-making. “One important takeaway is that our beliefs about psychological help and mental health professionals can be shaped by social identity and perceived social status,” Molenda explained.

“In our research, we focused on social class narcissism, a belief that one’s social class is exceptional but insufficiently recognized by others,” Molenda told PsyPost. “Such defensive identification may foster distrust and increase the likelihood of endorsing conspiracy beliefs about psychological help.”

This identity-driven suspicion has real-world consequences for public health. “This matters because such beliefs may discourage people from seeking support when they actually need it,” Molenda noted.

Molenda suggested that addressing these barriers requires a broad, multi-layered approach. “We therefore believe that improving mental health literacy alone may not be enough, it is also important to understand the broader social and identity-related factors that shape trust in psychological help,” she said.

The study, like all research, includes some limitations. “One important caveat is that, although we conducted one experimental study, most of our findings are based on correlational data,” Molenda stated. “This means that we should be careful not to draw strong causal conclusions, especially regarding the broader pathways linking social class narcissism and attitudes toward psychological help.”

Another limitation involves the demographic makeup of the respondents. “It is also worth noting that, although some of our samples were nationally representative, most participants identified as middle class,” Molenda said. “This means that our findings mainly reflect middle-class experiences, and conclusions about lower and higher social classes should be made with caution.”

The researchers also pointed out that cultural differences between Poland and the United States might influence how social class is understood. The concept of social class is deeply shaped by local history and economics. Exploring different societies would help scientists see if the relationship between class identity and conspiracy beliefs changes based on geography.

There are also alternative explanations for the findings that require future exploration. A general distrust of institutions or experts might be the root cause driving both social class narcissism and a reluctance to seek therapy. Future experiments should try to use different methods to manipulate social class narcissism to see exactly how feelings of group superiority shape our health decisions.

The study, “Habitus of doubt? The role of social class narcissism in shaping psychological help conspiracy beliefs,” was authored by Zuzanna Molenda, Marta Marchlewska, Piotr Michalski, Marta Rogoza, Paulina Bagrowska, Dominika Adamczyk, Maciej Grzeszczuk, Łukasz Gawęda, Grzegorz Pochwatko, and Adam Karakula.