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 |
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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: | |
Data DOI: | 10.7910/DVN/MCFN1Z |
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