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Some people just want to watch the world burn: the prevalence, psychology and politics of the ‘Need for Chaos’

Arceneaux, K., Gravelle, T. B., Osmundsen, M., Petersen, M. B., Reifler, J. and Scotto, T. J. (2021) Some people just want to watch the world burn: the prevalence, psychology and politics of the ‘Need for Chaos’. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 376(1822), 20200147. (doi: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0147)

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Abstract

People form political attitudes to serve psychological needs. Recent research shows that some individuals have a strong desire to incite chaos when they perceive themselves to be marginalized by society. These individuals tend to see chaos as a way to invert the power structure and gain social status in the process. Analysing data drawn from large-scale representative surveys conducted in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, we identify the prevalence of Need for Chaos across Anglo-Saxon societies. Using Latent Profile Analysis, we explore whether different subtypes underlie the uni-dimensional construct and find evidence that some people may be motivated to seek out chaos because they want to rebuild society, while others enjoy destruction for its own sake. We demonstrate that chaos-seekers are not a unified political group but a divergent set of malcontents. Multiple pathways can lead individuals to ‘want to watch the world burn’.

Item Type:	Articles
Additional Information:	This project received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (grant #ES/L011867/1) and the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Keywords:	Politics, Need for Chaos, personality.
Status:	Published
Refereed:	Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:	Scotto, Professor Thomas
Authors:	Arceneaux, K., Gravelle, T. B., Osmundsen, M., Petersen, M. B., Reifler, J., and Scotto, T. J.
College/School:	College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
Journal Name:	Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Publisher:	Royal Society
ISSN:	0962-8436
ISSN (Online):	1471-2970
Published Online:	22 February 2021
Copyright Holders:	Copyright © 2021 The Authors
First Published:	First published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 376(1822): 20200147
Publisher Policy:	Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy
Related URLs:	Other
Data DOI:	10.7910/DVN/MCFN1Z

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Deposit and Record Details

ID Code:	234725
Depositing User:	Professor Thomas Scotto
Datestamp:	23 Feb 2021 09:15
Last Modified:	03 Mar 2022 16:41
Date of acceptance:	9 December 2020
Date of first online publication:	22 February 2021
Date Deposited:	23 February 2021
Data Availability Statement:	Yes