State paranoia and urban cycling

Abstract

Consistent with a continuum approach to mental health, a growing body of research has established that paranoia occurs in the general population. The stress-vulnerability model would predict an association between environments high in threat and the presence of state paranoia, even in those with low dispositional trait paranoia. The present research examines whether urban cycling, a naturalistic environment high in interpersonal threat, is associated with state paranoia – operationalised as an explicit perception that other road users intend the agent harm. 323 members of the general population who regularly cycled in London completed measures of state and trait paranoia, anxiety, depression and stress. The majority of the general population sample (70%) reported experiencing state paranoia during urban cycling, and there was no association between state paranoia and trait paranoia. Reported state paranoia was higher during urban cycling than when using the London underground (a lower threat environment) and reported state paranoia on the underground was associated with trait paranoia. The findings are consistent with the stress-vulnerability model of everyday paranoia.