I don't have studies, but I have a wikipedia article going over the "magical thinking" stuff you're talking about, and how some people develop a tendency to do it as a regular thing:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_prone_personality
IME, it's very common with higher-functioning autistics.
Ha, that list.
1. excellent hypnotic subject (most but not all fantasizers)
Chris is easily suggestible, that's a fact evidenced with this scenario and everything else
2. having imaginary friends in childhood
Bionic, Patty's CWC Counterpart (and in fact the latter is one and the same with RL dog Patty in CWC's mind), The Chu Cabal
3. fantasizing often as child
A-check.
4. having an actual fantasy identity
An endless quantity - and we've got a new one, more compatible with CWC's current persona
5. experiencing imagined sensations as real
CURSE YE HAME HAAA; the sepsis he was convinced was a vagina emerging via hypnosis and binaural beats, the blurring of lines between CWCville and reality
6. having vivid sensory perceptions
The sweatband on the back of the medallion, a host of other examples (this is a symptom of autism so it's unsurprising)
7. receiving sexual satisfaction without physical stimulation.
She came for CWC . jpg
He's capable of certain things, but he's obviously vulnerable to a pretty unfair degree - he'll keep getting torn down by people until he's in someone's supervision - as in actual, tangible care, not Barb - where they can protect him from poor judgement. Maybe Null/Marv et al and the threat of a dox can help with prevention, who knows.
People say we owe him nothing; but it's at least true he will only come to harm/misfortune unsupervised. It was kind of funny and odd when he was shouting at a PS Eye about cartoons, but this isn't that.
This is like a visitor at a care home burning a grandma with her cigarette butt, and then stealing her purse.