Are delusions adaptive? The case of OCD
This thesis aims to explore the psychological adaptiveness of delusions in OCD. In general, Eugenia considers a phenomenon to be psychologically adaptive if it promotes the wellbeing or good psychological functioning of the organism it belongs to. Eugenia investigates wellbeing in both its hedonistic and eudaimonic sense. In the hedonistic sense, wellbeing equates to a subjective feeling about how well one’s life is going, while in the eudaimonic sense, things such as agency, social functioning and the meaningfulness of one’s life are also taken into account. For an overview on the adaptiveness of delusions, see Lancellotta & Bortolotti 2019.
Supervisors:
Professor Lisa Bortolotti
Professor Matthew Broome
Dr Anna Lavis