Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

SPECIAL ISSUE Clinic of democracy

No. 1 (2024)

Negative capacity. From a psychoanalytic notion to a democratic strategy for dealing with conspiracy theories

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/rpc1-2024oa17985
Submitted
giugno 14, 2024
Published
2024-10-15

Abstract

Authors claim an innovative viewpoint on the conspiracy theories phenomenon. Considering them as epiphenomena of the crisis, authors do not see them as a mere attack to democracy (although they may have anti-democratic effects), rather they see them as creations in response to the human need for meaning. Thinking about the concepts of power and knowledge democracy, authors argue that the development of negative capacity can represent a strategy for individual and social development in a democratic perspective. Such capacity, if cultivated in a systemic and systematic way, can support the coexistence of different narratives (conspiracy and non-conspiracy) and well-being, providing an important aid to the individual and social right to understand the world while respecting otherness.   

References

  1. Abalakina‐Paap, M., Stephan, W. G., Craig, T. & Gregory, W. L. (1999). Beliefs in conspiracies. Political Psychology, 20(3), 637-647. DOI: 10.1111/0162-895X.00160.
  2. Arcidiacono, C. & Di Martino, S. (2016). A critical analysis of happiness and well-being. Where we stand now, where we need to go. Community Psychology in Global Perspective, 2(1). DOI: 10.1285/i24212113v2i1p6.
  3. Barkun, M. (2003). The nature of conspiracy belief. A Culture of Conspiracy. Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. University of California Press.
  4. Biddlestone, M., Cichocka, A., Žeželj, I. & Bilewicz, M. (2020). Conspiracy theories and intergroup relations. In M. Butter & P. Knight (eds.), Routledge handbook of conspiracy theories (pp. 219-230). Routledge.
  5. Biddlestone, M., Green, R., Cichocka, A., Douglas, K. & Sutton, R. (2022). A systematic review and meta-analytic synthesis of the motives associated with conspiracy beliefs. PsyArXiv Preprints. DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/rxjqc.
  6. Biesta, G. (2007). Towards the knowledge democracy? Knowledge production and the civic role of the university. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 26, 467-479. DOI: 10.1007/s11217-007-9056-0.
  7. Bion, W. R. (2023). Learning from experience. Taylor & Francis.
  8. Blanuša, N. & Hristov, T. (2020). Psychoanalysis, critical theory and conspiracy theory. In M. Butter & P. Knight (eds.), Routledge handbook of conspiracy theories (pp. 67-80). Routledge.
  9. Bollas, C. (2011). The Christopher Bollas Reader. Routledge.
  10. Bortolotti, L. (2023). Is it pathological to believe conspiracy theories? Transcultural Psychiatry, 0(0). DOI: 10.1177/13634615231187243.
  11. Brotherton, R. (2015). Suspicious minds: Why we believe conspiracy theories. Bloomsbury Publishing.
  12. Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of meaning. Harvard University Press.
  13. Bruner, J. S. (2009). Actual minds, possible worlds. Harvard University Press.
  14. Butter, M. & Knight, P. (2020). Conspiracy theory in historical, cultural and literary studies. In M. Butter & P. Knight (eds.), Routledge handbook of conspiracy theories (pp. 28-42). Routledge.
  15. Carli, R. & Paniccia, R. M. (2003). Analisi della domanda. il Mulino.
  16. Cichocka, A., Marchlewska, M. & De Zavala, A. G. (2016). Does self-love or self-hate predict conspiracy beliefs? Narcissism, self-esteem, and the endorsement of conspiracy theories. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 7(2), 157-166. DOI: 10.1177/1948550615616170.
  17. Cremaschi, M., Fioretti, C., Mannarini, T., Salvatore, S. (2021a). Semiotic Capital. In Culture in Policy Making: The Symbolic Universes of Social Action. Cham: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-71967-8_8.
  18. Cremaschi, M., Fioretti, C., Mannarini, T., Salvatore, S. (2021b). A Cultural View of Policy-Making. Pluralism, Performativity, and Semiotic Capital. In Culture in Policy Making: The Symbolic Univers-es of Social Action. Springer, Cham.
  19. De Fortuna, A. M. & De Luca Picione, R. (2023). Perché crediamo alle teorie del complotto? Analisi multiprospettica di un fenomeno psicosociale. In T. De Giuseppe, E. Martini, R. De Luca Picione & A. L. Zurra, Educational Science tra Digital Transformation e Sfide Interdisciplinari per Professionalità Inclusive (pp. 37-65). Il Papavero.
  20. De Fortuna, A. M. & De Luca Picione, R. (2024). Searching for meaning through conspiracy theories. Considerations on the state of the art of psychological literature and definition of a research agenda from a semiotic dynamic cultural perspective. Culture & Psychology, 0(0). DOI: 10.1177/ 1354067X241246760.
  21. De Luca Picione, R. (2015). La mente come forma, la mente come testo: una indagine semiotico-psicologica dei processi di significazione. Mimesis.
  22. De Luca Picione, R. (2020). Dreaming Uncertainties. A semiotic interpretation of Bion’s “Negative Capability”: condition for imagination emerging. In T. Valério, A. C. Bastos & L Tateo (eds.), From dream to action: imagination and (im)possible futures (pp. 217-231). Information Age Publishing.
  23. De Luca Picione, R. (2021a). Metapsychology of borders: Structures, operations and semiotic dynamics. European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling, 23(4), 436-467. DOI: 10.1080/13642537.2021.2000463.
  24. De Luca Picione, R. (2021b). Models of semiotic borders in psychology and their implications: From rigidity of separation to topological dynamics of connectivity. Theory & Psychology, 31(5), 729-745. DOI: 10.1177/0959354320947184.
  25. De Luca Picione, R. & Dell’Amico, S. (under review). A psychoanalytic reflection on fascism, populism and the social transitional space of the democracy. Psychoanalytic Dialogue.
  26. De Luca Picione, R. & Freda, M. F. (2014). Catalysis and morphogenesis: The contextual semiotic configuration of form, function, and fields of experience. The catalyzing mind: Beyond models of causality (11), 149-163. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4614-8821-7_8.
  27. De Luca Picione, R. & Lozzi, (2021). Uncertainty as a constitutive condition of human experience. An extensive review of the paradoxes and complexities of sensemaking processes in the face of uncertainty crisis. International Journal of Psychoanalysis and Education, 1(2). DOI: 10.32111/SAS.2021.1.2.2.
  28. De Luca Picione, R., Freda, M. F., Bianco, R., Capelli, F., De Fortuna, A.M., Dioni, B., Fante, C., Raffin, C., Rollo, S., Troisi, G., Sandomenico, C. & Musetti, A. (2024). Sensemaking processes of parents with children affected by autism spectrum disorders. Identification of specific clusters of Sense of Grip. Human Arenas, 1-22. DOI: 10.1007/s42087-024-00406-5.
  29. Delanty, G. (2003). Ideologies of the knowledge society and the cultural contradictions of higher education. Policy Futures in Education, 1(1), 71-82. DOI: 10.2304/pfie.2003.1.1.9.
  30. Dewey, J. (2010). Democracy and education. International Alliance Press.
  31. Douglas, K. M. & Sutton, R. M. (2023). What are conspiracy theories? A definitional approach to their correlates, consequences, and communication. Annual review of psychology, 74, 271-298. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-032420-031329.
  32. Douglas, K. M., Sutton, R. M. & Cichocka, A. (2017). The psychology of conspiracy theories. Current directions in psychological science, 26(6), 538-542. DOI: 10.1177/0963721417718261.
  33. Douglas, K.M., Uscinski, J.E., Sutton, R.M., Cichocka, A., Nefes, T., Ang, C.S. and Deravi, F. (2019), Understanding Conspiracy Theories. Political Psychology, 40: 3-35. DOI: 10.1111/pops.12568.
  34. Douglas, K. M., Sutton, R. M., Biddlestone, M., Green, R. & Toribio-Flórez, D. (2024). Engaging with conspiracy believers. Review of Philosophy and Psychology, 1-19. DOI: 10.1007/s13164-024-00741-0.
  35. Esposito, R. (2020). Istituzione. il Mulino.
  36. Fenster, M. (1999). Conspiracy theories: Secrecy and power in American culture. University of Minnesota Press.
  37. Floridi, L. (2015). The onlife manifesto: Being human in a hyperconnected era. Springer nature.
  38. Freda, M. F. (2008). Narrazione e intervento in psicologia clinica. Costruire, pensare e trasformare narrazioni tra Logos e Pathos. Liguori Editore.
  39. Galinsky, A. D., Magee, J. C., Gruenfeld, D. H., Whitson, J. A. & Liljenquist, K. A. (2008). Power reduces the press of the situation: implications for creativity, conformity, and dissonance. Journal of personality and social psychology, 95(6), 1450-1466. DOI: 10.1037/a0012633.
  40. Giry, J. & Tika, P. (2020). Conspiracy theories in political science and political theory. In M. Butter & P. Knight (eds.), Routledge handbook of conspiracy theories (pp. 108-120). Routledge.
  41. Goertzel, T. (1994). Belief in conspiracy theories. Political psychology, 731-742. DOI: 10.2307/3791630.
  42. Goreis, A. & Voracek, M. (2019). A systematic review and meta-analysis of psychological research on conspiracy beliefs: Field characteristics, measurement instruments, and associations with per-sonality traits. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 205. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00205.
  43. Grasso, M., Cordella, B. & Pennella, A. R. (2004). Metodologia dell’intervento in psicologia clinica. In Metodologia dell’intervento in psicologia clinica. Carocci.
  44. Harambam, J. (2020). Conspiracy theory entrepreneurs, movements and individuals. In M. Butter & P. Knight (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Conspiracy Theories (pp. 278-291). Routledge.
  45. Hoffmeyer, J. (1997). Signs of Meaning in the Universe. Indiana University Press.
  46. Imhoff, R. & Lamberty, P. (2020). Conspiracy beliefs as psycho-political reactions to perceived power. In M. Butter & P. Knight (eds.), Routledge handbook of conspiracy theories (pp. 192-205). Routledge.
  47. Jolley, D. & Douglas, K. M. (2014). The effects of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories on vaccination intentions. PloS one, 9(2), e89177. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089177.
  48. Jolley, D., Seger, C. R. & Meleady, R. (2023). More than a prejudice reduction effect: Positive intergroup contact reduces conspiracy theory beliefs. European Journal of Social Psychology, 53(6), 1262-1275. DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2973.
  49. Kaës, R. (2013). Il Malessere. Borla.
  50. Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Macmillan.
  51. Klein, O. & Nera, K. (2020). Social psychology of conspiracy theories. In M. Butter & P. Knight (eds.), Routledge handbook of conspiracy theories (pp. 121-134). Routledge.
  52. Landau, M. J., Kay, A. C. & Whitson, J. A. (2015). Compensatory control and the appeal of a structured world. Psychological bulletin, 141(3), 694-722. DOI: 10.1037/a0038703.
  53. Leone, M., Madison, M. L. & Ventesel, A. (2020). Semiotic approaches to conspiracy theories. In M. Butter & P. Knight (eds.), Routledge handbook of conspiracy theories (pp. 43-55). Routledge.
  54. Lorusso, A. M. (2018). Postverità. Laterza.
  55. Loziak, A. & Havrillová, D. (2024). Conspiracy Mentality: How it Relates to Populism, Relative Deprivation, Mistrust of Expertise and Voting Behaviour. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 20(1), 1-15. DOI: 10.5964/ejop.10049.
  56. Magee, J. C. & Galinsky, A. D. (2008). 8 social hierarchy: The self‐reinforcing nature of power and status. The academy of management annals, 2(1), 351-398. DOI: 10.1080/19416520802211628.
  57. Natale, A., Di Martino, S., Procentese, F. & Arcidiacono, C. (2016). Degrowth and critical community psychology: Contributions towards individual and social well-being. Futures, 78, 47-56. DOI: 10.1016/j.futures.2016.03.020.
  58. Nelson, G. & Prilleltensky, I. (2005). Community psychology: In pursuit of liberation and well-being. Palgrave Macmillan.
  59. Nera, K., Bertin, P. & Klein, O. (2022). Conspiracy theories as opportunistic attributions of power. Current opinion in psychology, 47, 101381. DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101381.
  60. Pagán, V. E. (2020). Conspiracy theories in the Roman Empire. In M. Butter & P. Knight (eds.), Routledge handbook of conspiracy theories (pp. 531-541). Routledge.
  61. Pilch, I., Turska-Kawa, A., Wardawy, P., Olszanecka-Marmola, A. & Smołkowska-Jędo, W. (2023). Contemporary trends in psychological research on conspiracy beliefs. A systematic review. Frontiers in psychology, 14, 1075779. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1075779.
  62. Rabo, A. (2020). Conspiracy theory as occult cosmology in anthropology. In M. Butter & P. Knight (eds.), Routledge handbook of conspiracy theories (pp. 81-93). Routledge.
  63. Räikkä, J. & Ritola, J. (2020). Philosophy and conspiracy theories. In M. Butter & P. Knight (eds.), Routledge handbook of conspiracy theories (pp.56-66). Routledge.
  64. Riva, G. (2018). Fake News: vivere e sopravvivere in un mondo di post verità. il Mulino.
  65. Salvatore, S. (2016). Psychology in black and white: The project of a theory-driven science. IAP.
  66. Salvatore, S. & Freda, M. F. (2011). Affect, unconscious and sense-making. A psychodynamic, semiotic and dialogic model. New ideas in psychology, 29(2), 119-135. DOI: 10.1016/j.newideapsych.2010.06.00.
  67. Salvatore, S., Palmieri, A., Pergola, F. & Andrisano Ruggieri, R. (2019a). Trasformazioni sociali, affettivizzazione della sfera pubblica e ricerca di senso. [Social transformations, affectivization of the public sphere and search for sense]. Educ. Sci. Soc. Open Access J, 10, 206-255. Retrieved from https://journals.francoangeli.it/index.php/ess/article/view/8726.
  68. Salvatore, S., Mannarini, T., Avdi, E., Battaglia, F., Cremaschi, M., Fini, V., Forges Davanzati, G. et al. (2019b). Globalization, demand of sense and enemization of the other: A psychocultural analysis of European societies’ sociopolitical crisis. Culture & Psychology, 25(3), 345-374. DOI: 10.1177/1354067X18779056.
  69. Salvatore, S., De Luca Picione, R., Bochicchio, V., Mannino, G., Langher, V., Pergola, F., ... & Venuleo, C. (2021). The affectivization of the public sphere: the contribution of psychoanalysis in under-standing and counteracting the current crisis scenarios. International Journal of Psychoanalysis and Education: Subject, Action & Society, 1(1), 3-30.
  70. Salvatore, S., De Luca Picione, R., Cozzolino, M., Bochicchio, V. & Palmieri, A. (2021). The role of affective sensemaking in the constitution of experience. The affective pertinentization model (APER). Integrative psychological and behavioral science, 1-19. DOI: 10.1007/s12124-020-09590-9.
  71. Salvatore, S., Mannarini, T., Gennaro, A., Celia, G., De Dominicis, S., De Luca Picione, R., ... & Rocchi, G. (2023). The affective regulation of uncertainty: The semiotic dimensionality model (SDM). Social Sciences, 12(4), 217. DOI: 10.3390/socsci12040217.
  72. Semi, A. A. (1985). Tecnica del colloquio. Raffaello Cortina Editore.
  73. Stenner, P. (2018). Liminality and experience: A transdisciplinary approach to the psychosocial. Springer.
  74. Sullivan, D., Landau, M. J. & Rothschild, Z. K. (2010). An existential function of enemyship: evidence that people attribute influence to personal and political enemies to compensate for threats to control. Journal of personality and social psychology, 98(3), 434-449. DOI: 10.1037/a0017457.
  75. Swami, V., Coles, R., Stieger, S., Pietschnig, J., Furnham, A., Rehim, S. & Voracek, M. (2011). Conspiracist ideation in Britain and Austria: Evidence of a monological belief system and associations between individual psychological differences and real‐world and fictitious conspiracy theories. British Journal of Psychology, 102(3), 443-463. DOI: 10.1111/ j.2044-8295.2010.02004.x.
  76. Tossici, G. & De Luca Picione, R. (2024). The aesthetic and affective matrix of pre-reflective sensemaking at the origins of the relationship between subject and world. A dialogue between Kant’s Third Critique and psychoanalysis. International Journal of Psychoanalysis. DOI: 10.1080/ 00207578.2024.2306937.
  77. Tossici, G., Nitri, A. & Zurloni, V. (2024). Stress and sport performance: A PNEI multidisciplinary approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1358771. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1358771.
  78. Uscinski, J. E. (2018). The study of conspiracy theories. Argumenta, 3(2), 233-245.
  79. Uscinski, J. E. & Enders, A. M. (2023). Conspiracy theories: A primer. Rowman & Littlefield.
  80. Valsiner, J. (2014). An Invitation to Cultural Psychology. SAGE Publications Ltd.
  81. Valsiner, J. (2021). General Human Psychology. Springer.
  82. Valsiner, J. & De Luca Picione, R. (2017). The Dynamic Regulation of Affective Processes through Semiotic Mediation. Rivista internazionale di Filosofia e Psicologia, 8(1), 80-109. DOI: 10.4453/rifp.2017.0006.
  83. Van der Linden, S. (2015). The conspiracy-effect: Exposure to conspiracy theories (about global warming) decreases pro-social behavior and science acceptance. Personality and individual differences, 87, 171-173. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2015.07.045.
  84. van Mulukom, V., Pummerer, L. J., Alper, S., Bai, H., Čavojová, V., Farias, J., ... & Žeželj, I. (2022). Antecedents and consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs: A systematic review. Social Science & Medicine, 301, 114912. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114912.
  85. van Prooijen, J. V. & Imhoff, R. (2022). The psychological study of conspiracy theories: Strengths and limitations. Current opinion in psychology, 48, 101465. DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101465.
  86. van Prooijen, J. W. (2019). An Existential Threat Model of Conspiracy Theories. European Psychologist. DOI: 10.1027/1016-9040/a000381.
  87. van Prooijen, J. W. & Douglas, K. M. (2017). Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations. Memory studies, 10(3), 323-333. DOI: 10.1177/1750698017701615.
  88. van Prooijen, J. W. & Douglas, K. M. (2018). Belief in conspiracy theories: Basic principles of an emerging research domain. European journal of social psychology, 48(7), 897-908. DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2530.
  89. van Prooijen, J. W. & Van Vugt, M. (2018). Conspiracy theories: Evolved functions and psychological mechanisms. Perspectives on psychological science, 13(6), 770-788. DOI: 10.1177/1745691618774270.
  90. Venuleo, C., Salvatore, G., Ruggieri, R. A., Marinaci, T., Cozzolino, M. & Salvatore, S. (2020). Steps Towards a Unified Theory of Psychopathology: The Phase Space of Meaning Model. Clinical neuropsy-chiatry, 17(4), 236–252. DOI: 10.36131/cnfioritieditore20200405.
  91. Webb, R. E. & Rosenbaum, P. J. (2023). Conspiracy Theory Vulnerability From a Psychodynamic Perspective: Considering Four Epistemologies Related to Four Developmental Existential-Relational Positions. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 11(1), 60-74. DOI: 10.5964/jspp. 8089.
  92. Whitson, J. A. & Galinsky, A. D. (2008). Lacking control increases illusory pattern perception. science, 322(5898), 115-117. DOI: 10.1126/science.1159845.
  93. Winnicott, D. W. (2016). The location of cultural experience. The Collected Works of DW Winnicott, 429-436. Oxford University Press.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...