Pronoia Affliction
According to Pronoia.net, Dr. Fred H.Goldner claims that he, writing at Queens College in October 1982, published a paper in Social Problems (V.30, N.1:82-91), in which he coined the term pronoia to describe a psychological affliction. He characterized pronoia as a mirror image of paranoia, which leads the sufferer to unrealistically believe that persons or entities conspire against them.
Pronoia is the positive counterpart of paranoia. It is the delusion that others think well of one. Actions and the products of one's efforts are thought to be well received and praised by others. Mere acquaintances are thought to be close friends; politeness and the exchange of pleasantries are taken as expressions of deep attachment and the promise of future support. Pronoia appears rooted in the social complexity and cultural ambiguity of our lives: we have become increasingly dependent on the opinions of others based on uncertain criteria.
This quote is taken from Goldner's article listed above.
Long before the term was coined, J.D. Salinger referred to the concept in the novella, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters. In it, the character Seymour Glass writes in his diary, “Oh, God, if I'm anything by a clinical name, I'm a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy."
Read more about this topic: Pronoia (psychology)
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