Need for Chaos and Predicting Radical Behavior in a Political Setting

Principle Author
Camara Burleson
Undergraduate

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine how a Need for Chaos (NFC; Petersen et al., 2018) predicts support for negative behaviors toward politicians. To test this, participants completed a measure of Need for Chaos and were asked to imagine a time in the future where a fringe political group calls for the removal of elite politicians from office by any means necessary. Participants indicated how likely they would be to engage in a series of behaviors against elite politicians, from non-violent, legal actions to illegal, violent actions. Participants also completed measures of Social Dominance Orientation, loneliness, and Social Vigilantism. Results demonstrated that greater loneliness predicted higher NFC scores. Results also showed that greater willingness to persecute politicians was predicted by higher NFC and being more politically liberal.