Paranoid thinking, cognitive bias and dangerous neighbourhoods: implications for perception of threat and expectation of victimisation

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Jack, Alexander and Egan, Vincent (2016) Paranoid thinking, cognitive bias and dangerous neighbourhoods: implications for perception of threat and expectation of victimisation. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 62 (2). pp. 123-132. ISSN 0020-7640

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Abstract

Background: Paranoid thinking is prevalent in the non-clinical population and cognitive mechanisms of heuristic reasoning and jumping to conclusions bias contributes to its formation and maintenance.

Aims: This study investigated the degree to which paranoia, perceived environmental risk, heuristic reasoning and jumping to conclusions bias (measured with the beads task) contribute to misinterpretation of neutral stimuli, and whether this informed judgements regarding vulnerability to threat and crime. It is also investigated whether impulsiveness is a confounding factor on the beads task.

Methods: Two hundred participants were recruited using a snowball-sampling method for a quantitative cross-sectional study. Participants reported demographic information, three psychometric questionnaires and two experimental tasks via an online paradigm hosted by the Bristol Online Survey tool.

Results: Participants with high paranoia scores perceived their environment to be more dangerous than those with low scores. Participants with high paranoia scores also overestimated threat in neutral stimuli and had high expectations of future victimisation. Jumping to conclusions on the beads task did not predict fear of crime outcomes, but was predicted by impulsivity.

Conclusion: Participants who demonstrated paranoid thinking were more likely to reside in perceived dangerous neighbourhoods and overestimate threat. While this could indicate a paranoid heuristic, it is a potentially rational response to prior experiences of crime and victimisation. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Item Type: Article
RIS ID: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/977801
Additional Information: Copyright 2016 Sage Publications
Keywords: Paranoia, Jumping to conclusions, Threat, Victimisation, Heuristic reasoning
Schools/Departments: University of Nottingham, UK > Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Medicine > Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764015599998
Depositing User: Eprints, Support
Date Deposited: 22 Feb 2016 14:17
Last Modified: 04 May 2020 20:03
URI: https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/31712

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