Partisanship, Individual Differences, and News Media Exposure as Predictors of Conspiracy Beliefs

2017 ◽  
Vol 95 (3) ◽  
pp. 691-713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry A. Hollander
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Individual Difference ◽  
News Media ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Media Exposure ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Fox News ◽  
Political World ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs

Conspiracy theories are woven into America’s social and political fabric. While such beliefs help some individuals organize their political world, their popularity also raise concerns about the health of a democracy when those governed also suspect powerful forces work against their interests. The research here examines national survey data to demonstrate such beliefs have both partisan and individual difference explanations. Generic news media exposure offers little explanatory power, but exposure to Fox News programming predicts greater belief in theories critical of Democrats.

Is Belief in Conspiracy Theories Pathological? A Survey Experiment on the Cognitive Roots of Extreme Suspicion

2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Radnitz ◽  
Patrick Underwood
Keyword(s):  
Personality Type ◽  
News Article ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Contextual Variables ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Political World ◽  
The Social ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
Situational Triggers

What are the origins of belief in conspiracy theories? The dominant approach to studying conspiracy theories links belief to social stresses or personality type, and does not take into account the situational and fluctuating nature of attitudes. In this study, a survey experiment, subjects are presented with a mock news article designed to induce conspiracy belief. Subjects are randomly assigned three manipulations hypothesized to heighten conspiracy perceptions: a prime to induce anxiety; information about the putative conspirator; and the number and identifiability of the victim(s). The results indicate that conspiratorial perceptions can emerge from both situational triggers and subtle contextual variables. Conspiracy beliefs emerge as ordinary people make judgments about the social and political world.

The Burden of Being Certain: National Identity Certainty Predicts Support for COVID-Related Draconian Measures and Outgroup Conspiracy Beliefs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaiyuan Chen ◽  
Jinghui Zhang ◽  
Xiang Ao ◽  
Jeffrey Ramdass
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Total N ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
Beliefs And Attitudes

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced various controversies. Some people debate about the usage of “draconian” measures of social distancing (e.g., lockdown). Others concern the origin of the pandemic with some buying conspiracy theories that attribute the cause of COVID-19 to the plot of some powerful outgroups. The current research examined national identity certainty (i.e., the certainty people placed in national identity) as predictor of these beliefs and attitudes. Two studies (total N = 625), one longitudinal and one cross-sectional, revealed that individual differences in national identity certainty predicted increased support of draconian measures and increased outgroup conspiracy beliefs. Moreover, realistic (but not symbolic) threat accounted for the increased support for draconian measures. Symbolic (but not realistic) threat accounted for the increased outgroup conspiracy beliefs. Our findings highlight how national identity certainty constrains individuals’ beliefs and attitudes towards issues related to the pandemic.

Conspiratorial Thinking and Political Constraint

2019 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 510-533
Author(s):  
Adam M Enders
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Election Study ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Political World ◽  
National Election Study ◽  
Political Orientations ◽  
American National Election Study ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Political Groups

Abstract  Recent research on conspiracy beliefs reveals that the general predisposition to believe conspiracy theories cuts across partisan and ideological lines. While this may signify that political orientations have no bearing on conspiratorial reasoning, it also may suggest that conspiracy theorists are simply less engaged in traditional left-right politics. In this manuscript, I consider the relationship between conspiratorial thinking and political constraint, or the extent to which individuals have a clear picture of “what goes with what” with respect to the various objects of the political world. Using the 2012 American National Election Study, I construct a measure of conspiratorial thinking, as well as several operationalizations of both ideological and group-based constraint and ideological thinking. Results show that individuals prone to conspiratorial thinking are less politically constrained—when it comes to both thoughts about issues and feelings about political groups—than their less conspiratorial counterparts. Moreover, conspiratorial thinking is positively associated with antigovernmental orientations and a lack of political efficacy, with conspiracy theorists perceiving a governmental threat to individual rights and displaying a deep skepticism that who one votes for really matters. These findings suggest that conspiratorial thinking may have broader implications for individuals’ basic conceptualization of politics.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Conspiracies, Trust in Authorities, and Duty to Comply with Social Distancing Restrictions

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Murphy ◽  
Molly McCarthy ◽  
Elise Sargeant ◽  
Harley Williamson
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Civil Disobedience ◽  
Conspiracy Theory ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractIn 2020 governments worldwide implemented various laws and social distancing restrictions to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. At the same time, conspiracy theories emerged purporting that authorities were using the COVID-19 pandemic to permanently control or harm citizens. These conspiracies undermined government responses to the pandemic and in some cases elicited civil disobedience. Using survey data from 779 Australians collected eight months into the pandemic, we examined the relationship between conspiracy beliefs, trust in the government, and duty to comply with authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also examined whether trust in government moderated the association between conspiracy beliefs and duty to comply. We found that those prone to conspiracy theory beliefs and who distrusted government were less likely to comply with authorities during the pandemic. We also found that trust in the government moderated the negative relationship between conspiracy beliefs and duty to comply; high trust served as a protective factor against conspiracy beliefs. Importantly, we found that how government actions were experienced and perceived during the pandemic were important correlates of Australians’ level of trust in the government. Our findings point to the importance of governments maintaining high trust in their efficacy and approach during a crisis.

scholarly journals Contracting COVID-19: a longitudinal investigation of the impact of beliefs and knowledge

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney A. Moore ◽  
Benjamin C. Ruisch ◽  
Javier A. Granados Samayoa ◽  
Shelby T. Boggs ◽  
Jesse T. Ladanyi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Individual Difference ◽  
Real World ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Longitudinal Investigation ◽  
Accurate Knowledge ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
The Impact

AbstractRecent work has found that an individual’s beliefs and personal characteristics can impact perceptions of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Certain individuals—such as those who are politically conservative or who endorse conspiracy theories—are less likely to engage in preventative behaviors like social distancing. The current research aims to address whether these individual differences not only affect people’s reactions to the pandemic, but also their actual likelihood of contracting COVID-19. In the early months of the pandemic, U.S. participants responded to a variety of individual difference measures as well as questions specific to the pandemic itself. Four months later, 2120 of these participants responded with whether they had contracted COVID-19. Nearly all of our included individual difference measures significantly predicted whether a person reported testing positive for the virus in this four-month period. Additional analyses revealed that all of these relationships were primarily mediated by whether participants held accurate knowledge about COVID-19. These findings offer useful insights for developing more effective interventions aimed at slowing the spread of both COVID-19 and future diseases. Moreover, some findings offer critical tests of the validity of such theoretical frameworks as those concerning conspiratorial ideation and disgust sensitivity within a real-world context.

scholarly journals Psychological Correlates of COVID-19 Conspiracy Beliefs and Preventive Measures: Evidence from Turkey

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sinan Alper ◽  
Fatih Bayrak ◽  
Onurcan Yilmaz
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Uncertainty Avoidance ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Cognitive Reflection ◽  
Psychological Correlates ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs

COVID-19 pandemic has led to popular conspiracy theories regarding its origins and widespread concern over the level of compliance with preventive measures. In the current preregistered research, we recruited 1088 Turkish participants and investigated (a) individual differences associated with COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs; (b) whether such conspiracy beliefs are related to the level of preventive measures; and (c) other individual differences that might be related to the preventive measures. Higher faith in intuition, uncertainty avoidance, impulsivity, generic conspiracy beliefs, religiosity, and right-wing ideology, and a lower level of cognitive reflection were associated with a higher level of belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories. There was no association between COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and preventive measures while perceived risk was positively and impulsivity negatively correlated with preventive measures. We discuss the implications and directions for future research.

Something’s Going on Here

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 229-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Hart ◽  
Molly Graether
Keyword(s):  
Individual Difference ◽  
Real World ◽  
Mortality Salience ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Personal Safety ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs

Abstract. Research on individual-difference factors predicting belief in conspiracy theories has proceeded along several independent lines that converge on a profile of conspiracy believers as individuals who are relatively untrusting, ideologically eccentric, concerned about personal safety, and prone to perceiving agency in actions and profundity in bullshit. The present research represents the first attempt at an integrative approach to testing the independent contributions of these diverse factors to conspiratorial thinking. Two studies (N = 1,253) found that schizotypy, dangerous-world beliefs, and bullshit receptivity independently and additively predict endorsement of generic (i.e., nonpartisan) conspiracy beliefs. Results suggest that “hyperactive” agency detection and political orientation (and related variables) might also play a role. The studies found no effects of situational threats (mortality salience or a sense of powerlessness) – though it remains to be seen whether real-world instantiations of situational threats might move some people to seek refuge in conspiratorial ideation.

scholarly journals Antecedents and consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs: a rapid review of the evidence

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie van Mulukom ◽  
Lotte Pummerer ◽  
Sinan Alper ◽  
Hui Bai ◽  
Vladimira Cavojova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Difference ◽  
Guideline Adherence ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Rapid Review ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Individual Difference Variables ◽  
Accessible Information ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences

COVID-19 conspiracy theories emerged almost immediately after the beginning of the pandemic, and the number of believers does not appear to decline. Conspiracy beliefs can have severe consequences, such as reduced guideline adherence and vaccination intentions. Therefore, it is crucial to understand them. In this rapid review we summarize research from more than 43 publications covering research in 25 countries worldwide. We evaluate the contribution of individual difference variables, biases and attitudes, and social factors to the beliefs, and discuss the consequences of the beliefs on safeguarding, self-centred, and misguided behaviours, vaccination intentions, and other, detrimental behaviours. We suggest that belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories may be boosted by low levels of trust in a context of threat and low levels of comprehensive, accessible information in a context of unknowns. We conclude that interventions are urgently needed to (re-)establish trust and provide accessible information about COVID-19.

Self-Reported Sense of Smell Predicts Disgust Sensitivity and Disgust Reactivity

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 191-195
Author(s):  
Nicholas J. Kelley ◽  
Adrienne L. Crowell
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Individual Difference ◽  
Olfactory Stimulus ◽  
Disgust Sensitivity ◽  
Sense Of Smell ◽  
Olfactory Ability ◽  
Good Proxy ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract. Two studies tested the hypothesis that self-reported sense of smell (i.e., metacognitive insight into one’s olfactory ability) predicts disgust sensitivity and disgust reactivity. Consistent with our predictions two studies demonstrated that disgust correlates with self-reported sense of smell. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated, from an individual difference perspective, that trait-like differences in disgust relate to self-reported sense of smell. Physical forms of disgust (i.e., sexual and pathogen disgust) drove this association. However, the association between self-reported sense of smell and disgust sensitivity is small, suggesting that it is likely not a good proxy for disgust sensitivity. The results of Study 2 extended this finding by demonstrating that individual differences in self-reported sense of smell influence how individuals react to a disgusting olfactory stimulus. Those who reported having a better sense of smell (or better insight into their olfactory ability) found a disgusting smell significantly more noxious as compared to participants reporting having a poor sense of smell (or poor insight into their olfactory ability). The current findings suggest that a one-item measure of self-reported sense of smell may be an effective tool in disgust research.

Cognitive Reflection Effects on Time Discounting

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał Białek ◽  
Przemysław Sawicki
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Individual Difference ◽  
Delay Discounting ◽  
Reference Point ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Cognitive Reflection Test ◽  
Process Information ◽  
Time Discounting ◽  
Cognitive Reflection ◽  
The Way

Abstract. In this work, we investigated individual differences in cognitive reflection effects on delay discounting – a preference for smaller sooner over larger later payoff. People are claimed to prefer more these alternatives they considered first – so-called reference point – over the alternatives they considered later. Cognitive reflection affects the way individuals process information, with less reflective individuals relying predominantly on the first information they consider, thus, being more susceptible to reference points as compared to more reflective individuals. In Experiment 1, we confirmed that individuals who scored high on the Cognitive Reflection Test discount less strongly than less reflective individuals, but we also show that such individuals are less susceptible to imposed reference points. Experiment 2 replicated these findings additionally providing evidence that cognitive reflection predicts discounting strength and (in)dependency to reference points over and above individual difference in numeracy.

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