Week 2 - Conspiracy Theories Flashcards
What are Conspiracy Theories?
A proposed plot by powerful people or organizations working together in secret to accomplish some (usually sinister) goal.
Conspiracy theories have been around for millenia
Conspiracy theories can endanger lives
Conspiracy beliefs can affect behaviours such as….
- Climate friendly behaviours
- Getting Vaccinations
- Political extremism
What happens when people get exposed to conspiracies?
Exposure to conspiracy theories increases feelings of political powerlessness which in turn decreases desire to engage in political behaviours
Are people aware that conspiracies can have these effects?
Douglas and colleagues (2008) – people think that
others are affected by conspiracy exposure… but not themselves!
- People were exposed to a conspiracy and asked about their current and prior attitudes towards it
- People thought they didnt change
- Even though their attitudes were higher than a non-exposure control
Why do we believe conspiracies?
Do some people have a conspiracy mindset?
Bruder et al., 2013 - Conspiracy Mentality Scale
1. I think that many important things happen in the world which the public is never informed about
2. I think that politicians usually do not tell us the true motives for their decisions
3.I think that government agencies closely monitor all citizens
4. I think that events which superficially seem to lack a connection are often the result of secret activities
5. I think that there are secret organizations that greatly influence political decisions
Are general conspiracy beliefs correlated?
Conspiracy beliefs are correlated with each other - even though they should not be
What did Stasielowicz’s (2022) meta-analysis show regrading personality conponents and conspiracy believing?
Shows:
- Paranoia
- Scizotypy
- Narcissism
- Pseudoscience
What are the motivations to hold any attitudes or beliefs (conspiracy theory)?
- Intrumental
- Knowledge
- Value-expressive (could be personal or group)
- Ego-Defensice
BUT…
Conspiracy belief can be ‘‘beneficial’’
- Reduce uncertainty or powerlessness, rationalize, escape reality
Are we motivated to believe in conspiracies?
'’Rabbit Hole Syndrome’‘- Sutton & Douglas, 2022
People are drawn to conspiracy because…
- it is amusing, or aligns with general beliefs (e.g., distrust in government)
- Selective attention to media and social networks
- Increasing feelings of threat
- Allow other conspiracies ‘in’
- People define themselves in terms of these beliefs
What is the ‘‘Accusation in a mirror’’ ?
- A type of conspiracy theory that almost always exists before genocide occurs
- Prejudice towards outgroups (Jews, Immigrants, etc.) is associated with increased conspiracy beliefs about that group
What is the Jolley, Meleady, and Douglas, 2020, study?
- Participants were exposed to either information that supported conspiracy theories surrounding Jewish people (pro-conspiracy condition) or no information (control)
- DV 1: Belief in Jewish conspiracy theories
- DV 2: Feeling thermometer towards Jewish people PLUS other groups (e.g., Arabs, Irish, Americans, Asians)
- Being exposed to Jewish conspiracy theories increased their beliefs in the conspiracy theory, but also increased negative attitudes towards OTHER out groups (xenophobia)
What did Ipsos, 2020, study show?
Republicans and democrats believed in different conspiracy theories.
Debunking conspiracies is hard. Giving people information does not work well - Why might factual information fail?
- Conspiracy theories tend to be emotional in nature
- '’Knowledge’’ is not necessarily the main motivator of most conspiracy theory belief
- Conspiracies are maintained by an ‘‘Avalanche of bullshit’’
There’s factual truth and gist truth – (Langdon et al., 2024)
It doesn’t matter if it’s really true if the gist is what you agree with
