Effects of psychedelic use on authoritarian attitudes revisited.
Otto Simonsson, Taylor Lyons, Joseph Marks, Hannes Kettner, Leor Roseman, Eline Haijen, Mendel Kaelen, Robin Carhart-Harris
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) May 1, 2026 DOI: 10.1177/02698811261443677 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Combination: naturalistic observational study, single-arm study, and randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Participants who planned to use psychedelics, healthy volunteers receiving psilocybin, and patients diagnosed with depression receiving psilocybin or escitalopram |
| Interventions | Psilocybin Escitalopram |
| Topics | LSD Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Authoritarian Political Psychedelics |
| Key findings | No significant changes in authoritarian attitudes were observed after psychedelic use across the three studies. |
Abstract
Previous research suggests that psychedelics may, under certain conditions, decrease authoritarian attitudes, but larger and more rigorously designed studies are needed to confirm these findings. We aimed to examine the effects of psychedelic use on authoritarian attitudes. Using data from three separate studies with different designs and populations, we investigated the relationship between psychedelic use and authoritarian attitudes. Study 1 was a naturalistic observational study with participants who planned to use psychedelics at their own initiative, Study 2 was a single-arm study with healthy volunteers who received psilocybin, and Study 3 was a randomized, controlled trial with patients diagnosed with depression who received psilocybin or escitalopram. Across the three studies, results showed no significant changes in authoritarian attitudes after psychedelic use. Contrary to previous research, the latest evidence is not compelling that psychedelic use influences authoritarian attitudes in a reliable direction. Future research should recruit larger and more diverse samples, collect additional context-related data, and also investigate political outcomes other than authoritarian attitudes.