The Secret Society of Preppers: How OPSEC Leads to Outgroup Derogation

Abstract

Within the growing prepper movement in the United States is a clear code of conduct called OPSEC, short for Operational Security, that dictates they keep their identities as preppers a secret from others. Review of academic literature is done to determine if, by practicing OPSEC, the prepper movement has created their own secret society. Research is also done to determine why preppers practice OPSEC and how practicing OPSEC impacts their relationships with others whom they view as non-preppers or anti-preppers. Because of their strong desire for anonymity, limited formal academic research about preppers has been done and little academic data has been gathered. However, with the recent surge in popularity of websites dedicated to preppers, this paper provides research data gathered from content analysis of internet prepper sites to determine if their fear and lack of trust of non-preppers has created ingroup favoritism and outgroup derogation.