Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. Power, Politics, and Paranoia
  • Cited by 36
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
July 2014
Print publication year:
2014
Online ISBN:
9781139565417
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139565417
Subjects:
Social Psychology, Politics: General Interest, Politics and International Relations, Psychology
Information

Book description

Powerful societal leaders - such as politicians and Chief Executives - are frequently met with substantial distrust by the public. But why are people so suspicious of their leaders? One possibility is that 'power corrupts', and therefore people are right in their reservations. Indeed, there are numerous examples of unethical leadership, even at the highest level, as the Watergate and Enron scandals clearly illustrate. Another possibility is that people are unjustifiably paranoid, as underscored by some of the rather far-fetched conspiracy theories that are endorsed by a surprisingly large portion of citizens. Are societal power holders more likely than the average citizen to display unethical behaviour? How do people generally think and feel about politicians? How do paranoia and conspiracy beliefs about societal power holders originate? In this book, prominent scholars address these intriguing questions and illuminate the many facets of the relations between power, politics and paranoia.

Reviews

'Van Prooijen and van Lange have done an excellent job by bringing together a range of exciting chapters illustrating the dramatic influence that the behaviors and power of our leaders can have on our perceptions, beliefs and expectations.'

David De Cremer - China Europe International Business School and London Business School

'Thoughtful insights and eye-opening data fill this terrific volume … a must-read book for anyone interested in political leadership, the effects of power and how modern citizens should regard their politicians.'

Roy F. Baumeister - Florida State University, author of Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength

'Power, Politics, and Paranoia does the discipline a valuable service by bringing … these three research literatures together … This volume is an important illustration of how power and paranoia are not simple reflections of individuals’ psychological characteristics, but are informed by their position within groups and their group’s position within the larger society.'

Source: Social Justice Research

Refine List

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

Contents

Contents

Metrics

Altmetric attention score

Full text views

Total number of HTML views: 0
Total number of PDF views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

Book summary page views

Total views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

Usage data cannot currently be displayed.