Story perspectives

Social-Class Narcissism Fuels Therapy Conspiracy Beliefs, Study Finds

5/28/2026

Summary

Story summary

Researchers found that social-class narcissism predicts belief in therapy-related conspiracy theories.
In a Polish sample of 705 adults, narcissism correlated with conspiracy beliefs after controlling for education.
An experiment with 1,371 Polish participants showed that priming class-underestimation increased conspiracy scores.
A replication with 511 U.S. residents confirmed the narcissism-conspiracy relationship.
A fourth Polish sample of 647 adults linked narcissism to lower mental-health literacy.

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Story summary

Researchers found that social-class narcissism predicts belief in therapy-related conspiracy theories.
In a Polish sample of 705 adults, narcissism correlated with conspiracy beliefs after controlling for education.
An experiment with 1,371 Polish participants showed that priming class-underestimation increased conspiracy scores.
A replication with 511 U.S. residents confirmed the narcissism-conspiracy relationship.
A fourth Polish sample of 647 adults linked narcissism to lower mental-health literacy.