Other · 2026
Psilocybin and other psychedelics showed no reliable effect on authoritarian attitudes
- Original title
- Effects of psychedelic use on authoritarian attitudes revisited.
- Authors
- Simonsson O, Lyons T, Marks J, et al.
- Journal
- Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 2026
- Molecules
- Psilocybin, Other
- Conditions
- Depression, Healthy volunteers, Other
- Evidence grade
- Low
- Source
- Read the original paper
The question
Does taking psychedelics change how authoritarian a person’s political and social attitudes are? Earlier, smaller studies had hinted that it might.
What they did
The researchers drew on three separate studies with different designs. Study 1 followed people who had already planned to use psychedelics on their own. Study 2 gave psilocybin to healthy volunteers in a single-arm design, meaning everyone received the drug and there was no comparison group. Study 3 was a randomized controlled trial in people diagnosed with depression, comparing psilocybin with the antidepressant escitalopram. In each case, authoritarian attitudes were measured before and after.
What they found
Across all three studies, there were no statistically significant changes in authoritarian attitudes after psychedelic use. The authors conclude that the current evidence does not convincingly show that psychedelics shift these attitudes in any consistent direction. This contrasts with earlier reports suggesting psychedelics might reduce authoritarianism.
The fine print
The abstract reports no sample sizes, no numerical scores and no follow-up lengths, so the strength of the null finding cannot be judged. Two of the three studies lacked a placebo or control group, and the naturalistic study involved people who chose to use psychedelics themselves, which limits how far the results generalize. The authors themselves call for larger and more diverse samples. This summary is based on the abstract alone.
What it means
The idea that psychedelics make people less authoritarian is not supported by these three datasets. Claims about psychedelics reshaping political views should be treated cautiously until better-powered studies are done.
Evidence grade: Low. The paper pools three studies of differing quality, including an observational study and a single-arm trial, and the abstract gives no sample sizes or effect estimates.
This summary is based on the study’s published abstract.