Einstein and Glick [Einstein, K.L. and Glick, D.M. (2015) ‘Do I think BLS data are BS? The consequences of conspiracy theories’, Political Behaviour, 37(3): 679-701] found the negative effect of conspiracy theories on trust, but…
Category: Florilegium
Annika Thiem on conspiracy theories & gender
According to most quantitative studies, the stereotypical image of a conspiracy theorist as an ‘unwashed, middle-aged white male’ is wrong (Uscinski, Parent 2014: 73). Most studies in psychology and political science find no evidence that…
Steven M. Smallpage, Hugo Drochon, Joseph E. Uscinski & Casey Klofstad on the demographics of conspiracy theorists
Conspiracy beliefs are individuals’ acceptance of specific conspiracy theories as likely true. […] Of course, polling leaves room for interpretaion. First, how a survey item is worded can affect if the idea being asked about…
Péter Krekó on information warfare
As we live in an era of information warfare, there would be a need for a similar grand project to know more on propaganda and how to resist it than the one that was implemented…
Mikey Biddlestone, Aleksandra Cichocka, Iris Žeželj & Michat Biłewicz on conspiracy theories & intergroup relations
A nationwide representative study in Poland found that intergroup contact, as well as intergroup friendships, were significant predictors of attitudes toward Jews, but they were not significantly related to belief in the Jewish conspiracy [Winiewski,…
Roland Imhoff & Pea Lamberty on conspiracy theories in terms of power & norm compliance
Importantly, these intra-individual correlations varied as a function of conspiracy mentality: The more people endorsed a conspiracy mentality, the stronger was their association of power with threat and the more they tended to see powerful…
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Karen M. Douglas, Aleksandra Cichocka & Robbie M. Sutton on conspiracy theories in terms of emotion & motivation
Specifically, Whitson, Galinsky and Kay [Whitson, J.A., Galinsky, A.D. and Kay, A. (2015) ‘The emotional roots of conspiratorial perceptions, system justification, and belief in the paranormal’, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 56, 89-95] manipulated people’s…
Jan-Willem van Prooijen, Olivier Klein & Jasna Milošević Đorđević on System 1 & 2 thinking in the context of conspiracy theories
One important insight in the field of social cognition is that most beliefs that people hold about the world originate from System 1 [intuitive, emotional, and heuristic] thinking. For instance, Gilbert, Tafarodi and Malone (1993)…
Anthony Lantian, Mike Wood & Biljana Gjoneska on conspiracy theorists’ personality traits & cognitive styles
The thread from conspiracist mentality to negative affectivity could be extended to include various aspects of emotional instability (i.e. proneness toward psychological stress and susceptibility to unpleasant emotions, like anxiety and depression) and neuroticism (Swami,…
Estrella Gualda Caballero on echo chambers
It is common to find polarized communication networks on social media expressing situations of extremism, separation, rupture, etc. This means that the information is produced in a kind of closed system or echo chamber. Polarization…