Non-clinical Paranoia Research Articles

Self-affirmation and nonclinical paranoia

Background and ObjectivesThis experiment examined whether reflecting on a core value—value-affirmation—was effective in attenuating state paranoia in students. MethodsUniversity students (N = 55) were randomised to either a value-affirmation or non-affirmation control condition before exposure to a paranoia-induction manipulation (high self-awareness plus failure feedback). Paranoid cognitions were measured before (T1) and after (T2) the value-affirmation task and after the paranoia-induction task (T3). Depressive cognitions were also measured at T3. ResultsAffirming a valued domain had a direct and significant effect on reducing state paranoia prior to the paranoia-induction task (T2), such that the overall impact of the paranoia-induction on state paranoia was not significantly different from baseline. This effect was not attributable to differential changes in depression across groups. LimitationsUse of a nonclinical sample limits generalisation to clinical groups. Repeat testing of key variables is a limitation, although this was necessary to assess change over time, and use of randomisation increased the internal validity of the study. ConclusionsThese findings suggest that self-affirmation is effective in reducing state paranoia in a nonclinical sample.

The association of implicit and explicit self-esteem and trait paranoia

Recent models of paranoia have emphasized the role of emotional factors such as self-esteem (SE). Previous findings with clinical populations support that persecutory delusion reflects a defense against low conscious SE. The present study aims to analyze whether this assumption is valid in non-clinical individuals with high suspiciousness. A sample of 211 undergraduates is evaluated with measures of paranoia, depression, and explicit and implicit SE. Groups of highly suspicious, depressed and control individuals are compared. Results support that non-clinical paranoia is not associated with low implicit SE. Against it was expected, the paranoid group showed a similar positive level of implicit SE than those of depressed and healthy control groups. In addition, non-clinical paranoia was not associated to discrepant SE, that is, to negative implicit but positive explicit SE. It is possible that in non-psychotic population persecutory believes are not motivated by a psychotic defense.

Naturalistic Change in Nonclinical Paranoid Experiences

Numerous studies have shown that paranoia is common in the nonclinical population; however, little research has examined whether nonclinical paranoid beliefs change over time, or considered potential reasons for change. The aim of the present study was therefore to examine naturalistic change in nonclinical paranoid experiences. 60 participants described an idiosyncratic experience of paranoia, including when it occurred, and rated their experience along four key belief dimensions: preoccupation, impact, distress and conviction. Participants provided two ratings for each dimension, retrospective recall at the time of the occurrence of the paranoid event, and again at the time of the interview. Participants were also asked to provide qualitative descriptions of reasons for change in belief dimensions. Participants described paranoid experiences that had occurred over a large timeframe (1 day-25 years). Reductions across all four belief dimensions were found, and seven key themes emerged following qualitative analysis of the participants' reason for change in response to the paranoid event. The findings highlight a number of factors associated with reported naturalistic changes in belief dimensions of conviction, distress, preoccupation and impact, which might be useful in enhancing interventions for clinical and nonclinical paranoia, and in helping to build models to account for why people showing clear paranoid ideation do, or do not, go on to develop clinical paranoia.

Emotional Dysregulation, Attributional Bias, Neurocognitive Impairment in Individuals at Ultra-High Risk for Psychosis and with Schizophrenia : Its Association with Paranoia

Objectives : Paranoia is a complex phenomenon, affected by a number of factors such as depression, trait anxiety, and attribution- al bias in schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to explore whether paranoia within continuum of clinical and subclinical states is associated with emotional dysregulation, attributional bias and neurocognitive impairment in whole individuals of normal con- trols, ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis and schizophrenia. Methods : 101 normal controls, 50 participants at UHR for psychosis, and 49 schizophrenia patients were recruited. All subjects were asked to complete self-reported paranoia scale and emotional dysregulation scales including Rosenberg's self-esteem, Spiel- berg's state-trait anxiety inventory and Beck depression inventory. The attributional style was assessed by Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire (AIHQ). Participants were also requested to complete the comprehensive neurocognitive battery. Results : Multiple linear regression analysis showed that paranoia were found to be associated with emotional dysregulation (state anxiety, trait anxiety and depression), composite blaming bias in ambiguous situation, impairment of attention and working mem- ory in whole participants (F (9, 190)=34.85, p<0.001, adjusted R 2 =0.61). Conclusion : The main findings suggest that paranoia is a complex affective and cognitive structure that may be associated with emotional dysregulation, blaming bias and attention and working memory impairment in clinical and non-clinical paranoia. (Ko- rean J Schizophr Res 2014;17:63-71)

Cognitive Control Processes in Paranoia: The Impact of Threat Induction on Strategic Cognition and Self-Focused Attention

Current clinical models emphasize certain cognitive processes in the maintenance of distressing paranoia. While a number of these processes have been examined in detail, the role of strategic cognition and self-focused attention remain under-researched. This study examined the deployment of cognitive strategies and self-focused attention in people with non-clinical paranoia. An experimental design was used to examine the impact of a threat activation task on these processes, in participants with high and low non-clinical paranoia. Twenty-eight people were recruited to each group, and completed measures of anxiety, paranoid cognition, strategic cognition and self-focused attention. The threat activation task was effective in increasing anxiety in people with high and low non-clinical paranoia. The high paranoia group experienced more paranoid cognitions following threat activation. This group also reported greater use of thought suppression, punishment and worry, and less use of social control strategies when under threat. No differences were found between the groups on measures of self-focused attention. This study shows that the threat activation task increased anxiety in people with high non-clinical paranoia, leading to increased paranoid thinking. The use of strategic cognition following threat activation varied dependent on level of non-clinical paranoia. If these differences are replicated in clinical groups, the strategies may be implicated in the maintenance of distressing psychosis, and may therefore be a valuable target for therapeutic intervention.

Social cognition and social functioning in nonclinical paranoia

Introduction.Persons with nonclinical paranoia show many of the same biases as those with clinical paranoia, suggesting that paranoia exists on a continuum. However, little is known about the various social cognitive processes found in paranoia and how these relate to social functioning and social behaviours in general. This study will examine performance on emotion perception and attributional style measures and their relationship to social functioning, social problem solving, and social skill. A key element in this study will be the incorporation of ambiguity in the perception of emotional expressions and the assignment of attributional blame, which appears to be an important, yet neglected, construct in paranoia.Methods.Twenty-six persons with high levels of nonclinical paranoia and 31 persons with low levels of paranoia completed measures of emotion perception, attributional style, social functioning, and social problem solving. Salient and subtle emotional expressions were used to examine how ambiguity impacts emotion perception in paranoia.Results.The group high in nonclinical paranoia showed reduced accuracy for subtle negative emotional expressions and showed more perceived hostility and blame for ambiguous social situations as compared to the group low in nonclinical paranoia. Also, the high nonclinical paranoia group reported less social engagement, fewer social contacts, and more problems in social perception and social skill than the group low in nonclinical paranoia.Conclusion.Social cognitive and social functioning biases are found in persons with high levels of nonclinical paranoia. Possible mechanisms of these biases and relevance for treatment approaches are discussed.

Attributional Style in Healthy Persons: Its Association with 'Theory of Mind' Skills

ObjectiveAttributional style, especially external personal attribution bias, was found to play a pivotal role in clinical and non-clinical paranoia. The study of the relationship of the tendency to infer/perceive hostility and blame with theory of mind skills has significant theoretical importance as it may provide additional information on how persons process social situations. The aim of this study was whether hostility perception bias and blame bias might be associated with theory of mind skills, neurocognition and emotional factors in healthy persons.MethodsTotal 263 participants (133 male and 130 female) were recruited. The attributional style was measured by using the Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire (AIHQ). Participants were requested to complete a Brüne's Theory of Mind Picture Stories task, neurocognitive task including Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) and digit span, and other emotional dysregulation trait scales including Rosenberg's self-esteem, Spielberg's trait anxiety inventory, and Novaco anger scale.ResultsMultiple regression analysis showed that hostility perception bias score in ambiguous situation were found to be associated with theory of mind questionnaire score and emotional dysregulation traits of Novaco anger scale. Also, composite blame bias score in ambiguous situation were found to be associated with emotional dysregulation traits of Novaco anger scale and Spielberg's trait anxiety scale.ConclusionThe main finding was that the attributional style of hostility perception bias might be primarily contributed by theory of mind skills rather than neurocognitive function such as attention and working memory, and reasoning ability. The interpretations and implications would be discussed in details.

A paradigm for the study of paranoia in the general population: The Prisoner's Dilemma Game

A growing body of research shows that paranoia is common in the general population. We report three studies that examined the Prisoner's Dilemma Game (PDG) as a paradigm for evaluation of non-clinical paranoia. The PDG captures three key qualities that are at the heart of paranoia—it is interpersonal, it concerns threat, and it concerns the perception of others' intentions towards the self. Study 1 (n=175) found that state paranoia was positively associated with selection of the competitive PDG choice. Study 2 (n=111) found that this association was significant only when participants believed they were playing the PDG against another person, and not when playing against a computer. This finding underscores the interpersonal nature of paranoia and the concomitant necessity of studying paranoia in interpersonal context. In Study 3 (n=152), we assessed both trait and state paranoia, and differentiated between distrust- and greed-based competition. Both trait and state paranoia were positively associated with distrust-based competition (but not with greed-based competition). Crucially, we found that the association between trait paranoia and distrust-based competition was fully mediated by state paranoia. The PDG is a promising paradigm for the study of non-clinical paranoia.

Testing the continuum of delusional beliefs: An experimental study using virtual reality.

A key problem in studying a hypothesized spectrum of severity of delusional ideation is determining that ideas are unfounded. The first objective was to use virtual reality to validate groups of individuals with low, moderate, and high levels of unfounded persecutory ideation. The second objective was to investigate, drawing upon a cognitive model of persecutory delusions, whether clinical and nonclinical paranoia are associated with similar causal factors. Three groups (low paranoia, high nonclinical paranoia, persecutory delusions) of 30 participants were recruited. Levels of paranoia were tested using virtual reality. The groups were compared on assessments of anxiety, worry, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anomalous perceptual experiences, reasoning, and history of traumatic events. Virtual reality was found to cause no side effects. Persecutory ideation in virtual reality significantly differed across the groups. For the clear majority of the theoretical factors there were dose–response relationships with levels of paranoia. This is consistent with the idea of a spectrum of paranoia in the general population. Persecutory ideation is clearly present outside of clinical groups and there is consistency across the paranoia spectrum in associations with important theoretical variables.

Corporate governance and knowledge management: how board independence may increase CEO paranoia and lead to increased top management team homophily

This study suggests that board changes aimed at bolstering the monitoring role of governance may inadvertently undermine a firm's knowledge management capabilities through increases in Top Management Team (TMT) homophily. We theorise how changes in board composition that increase the board's social independence from CEOs affect TMT member selection through symptoms of CEO non-clinical paranoia about their relations with the board. Our theory is tested with data from an original survey of CEOs and outside directors from 263 large- and medium-sized US global corporations, together with archival data on board composition and management characteristics. We submit that CEOs manifesting non-clinical paranoia are more likely to appoint executives like themselves to the top team; and these new executives also have fewer ties to the board. Results suggest that social psychological cognitions among corporate leaders may lead to TMT homophily – that is, less diversity in TMTs, including diversity of social network ties.

What makes one person paranoid and another person anxious? The differential prediction of social anxiety and persecutory ideation in an experimental situation.

BackgroundIn recent years a close association between anxiety and persecutory ideation has been established, contrary to the traditional division of neurosis and psychosis. Nonetheless, the two experiences are distinct. The aim of this study was to identify factors that distinguish the occurrence of social anxiety and paranoid thoughts in an experimental situation.MethodTwo hundred non-clinical individuals broadly representative of the UK general population were assessed on a range of psychological factors, experienced a neutral virtual reality social environment, and then completed state measures of paranoia and social anxiety. Clustered bivariate logistic regressions were carried out, testing interactions between potential predictors and the type of reaction in virtual reality.ResultsThe strongest finding was that the presence of perceptual anomalies increased the risk of paranoid reactions but decreased the risk of social anxiety. Anxiety, depression, worry and interpersonal sensitivity all had similar associations with paranoia and social anxiety.ConclusionsThe study shows that social anxiety and persecutory ideation share many of the same predictive factors. Non-clinical paranoia may be a type of anxious fear. However, perceptual anomalies are a distinct predictor of paranoia. In the context of an individual feeling anxious, the occurrence of odd internal feelings in social situations may lead to delusional ideas through a sense of ‘things not seeming right’. The study illustrates the approach of focusing on experiences such as paranoid thinking rather than diagnoses such as schizophrenia.

Perceived Racism as a Predictor of Paranoia Among African Americans

Recent theoretical models suggest that perceived racism acts as a stressor for African Americans and may be associated with a variety of negative psychological consequences, notably paranoia. Paranoia among African Americans is believed to reflect the lower end of the paranoia continuum based on experiences with racism. Thus, it may be beneficial to measure paranoia on a continuum, but few studies have adopted this strategy. This study examined the relationship between perceived racism and paranoia across the continuum in 128 African American college students. Participants completed three measures of paranoia and measures of perceived racism, depression, anger, self-consciousness, and hostile perceptions. The continuum of paranoia included measures reflecting cultural, nonclinical, and clinical paranoia. Perceived racism predicted cultural mistrust and nonclinical paranoia (lower end of the paranoia continuum) but not clinical paranoia. The implications of perceived racism in the prediction of paranoia for African Americans are discussed.

The Psychology of Persecutory Ideation I

Paranoia is a complex phenomenon that is likely to arise from a number of factors. In a recent cognitive model of persecutory delusions, three key factors are highlighted: anomalous experiences, emotion, and reasoning. In the first of two linked studies, we report a questionnaire survey of nonclinical paranoia designed to assess the theoretical model. A nonclinical population (N = 327) completed measures of paranoia, anomalous experiences (hallucinatory predisposition, perceptual anomalies), emotion (depression, anxiety, self-focus, stress, interpersonal sensitivity), and reasoning (need for closure). Paranoia was best explained by separation anxiety, depression, fragile inner self, hallucinatory experiences, discomfort with ambiguity, stress, self-focus, perceptual anomalies, and anxiety. The findings are consistent with the central predictions within the model of paranoia.

Psychometric analysis of the cultural mistrust inventory with a Black psychiatric inpatient sample.

An important empirical question is whether the Cultural Mistrust Inventory (CMI) can be used to measure cultural aspects of paranoia in Black psychiatric populations. Research on cultural mistrust in psychiatric populations is essential for tests of hypotheses regarding the misdiagnosis of African Americans. The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of the CMI in a sample of African American patients recently admitted to a psychiatric hospital. The reliability assessment revealed that the CMI total scale is a reliable measure. Factor analytic results indicated that a single global dimension underlies CMI scores. The CMI also showed good convergent validity with a measure of nonclinical paranoia and discriminant validity with measures of self-esteem and social desirability. This study provides reasonable evidence that use of the CMI with psychiatric patients is psychometrically sound.

Implicit learning and non-clinical paranoia: does content matter?

Persons high and low in non-clinical paranoia (based on scores from the Paranoia Scale) were administered two implicit learning tasks that comprised information regarding the covariation between a stimulus (e.g. a face) and a specific characteristic (e.g. “fairness”). To assess whether persons high in non-clinical paranoia were particularly sensitive to learning social information, both social (faces) and non-social stimuli (cars) were used. Results showed that the group high in non-clinical paranoia demonstrated implicit learning to all stimuli, irrespective of content. The group low in non-clinical paranoia showed greater implicit learning for non-social relative to social stimuli. The results partially support a content-specific bias since there were differences in social ratings relative to non-social ratings between the two groups. Finally, the group high in non-clinical paranoia was significantly more confident in their ratings relative to the group low in non-clinical paranoia for all stimuli. The implications of these findings for non-clinical paranoia are discussed.

Paranoid Thought and Schematic Processing

Paranoid Thought and Schematic ProcessingAllan FenigsteinAllan Fenigstein1 Kenyon CollegeSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:January 2011https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.1997.16.1.77PDFPDF PLUS ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations About Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Cited byCited by1. Fenigstein, AllanOnline publication date: 22 April 2020. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar2. Fenigstein, AllanOnline publication date: 5 December 2018. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar3. Terror Management Theory and Psychological DisorderOnline publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar4. How paranoid are conspiracy believers? Toward a more fine-grained understanding of the connect and disconnect between paranoia and belief in conspiracy theoriesOnline publication date: 30 May 2018. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar5. Paranoia Symptoms Moderate the Impact of Emotional Context Processing on Community Functioning of Individuals with SchizophreniaOnline publication date: 26 April 2018. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar6. Online publication date: Go to citation Crossref 7. Early relationships and paranoia: Qualitative investigation of childhood experiences associated with the development of persecutory delusionsOnline publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar8. Abusive Supervision Through the Lens of Employee State ParanoiaOnline publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar9. Emotional, cognitive and behavioral reactions to paranoid symptoms in clinical and nonclinical populationsOnline publication date: 20 June 2014. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar10. The Role of Predisposition to Hallucinations on Non-Clinical Paranoid vs. Socially Anxious Individuals after Hearing Negative Affective-Laden Sounds: An Experimental InvestigationOnline publication date: 13 September 2012. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar11. Depressive Primes Stimulate Initial Avoidance of Angry Faces: An Eye-Tracking Study of Paranoid IdeationOnline publication date: 7 September 2011. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar12. Theory of mind, facial recognition and emotional processing in schizophreniaOnline publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar13. Teoría de la mente, reconocimiento facial y procesamiento emocional en la esquizofreniaOnline publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar14. The Cognitive–Affective Processing System (CAPS) approach to personality and the concept of personality disorder: Integrating clinical and social-cognitive researchOnline publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar15. On the Power of Music to Affect Intergroup RelationsOnline publication date: 1 March 2009. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar16. Cognitive and emotional differences between abusive and non-abusive fathersOnline publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar17. Thought suppression and persecutory delusion-like beliefs in a nonclinical sampleOnline publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar18. ReferencesOnline publication date: 9 May 2008. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar19. Subtypes of paranoia in a nonclinical sampleOnline publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar20. Paranoid cognitions, failure, and focus of attention in college studentsOnline publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar21. Relationships Between Hostility, Affective Ratings of Pictures, and State Affects During Task-Induced StressOnline publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar22. Paranoia and emotion perception across the continuumOnline publication date: 24 December 2010. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar23. Perceived Racism as a Predictor of Paranoia Among African AmericansOnline publication date: 25 July 2016. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar24. Social cognitive bias and neurocognitive deficit in paranoid symptoms: evidence for an interaction effect and changes during treatmentOnline publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar25. Implicit learning and non-clinical paranoia: does content matter?Online publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar26. Ethnic differences in subclinical paranoia: An expansion of norms of the Paranoia Scale.Online publication date: 1 January 2002. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar27. Cultural mistrust: An important psychological construct for diagnosis and treatment of African Americans.Online publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar Volume 16Issue 1Mar 1997 Information© 1997 Guilford Publications Inc.PDF download