Living in a corrupt environment makes you more likely to believe in conspiracy theories, regardless of your politics
While right-wingers are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories than left-wingers, new findings suggest that this effect is weaker...
Increased anxiety and depression during the pandemic may be related to COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs
Research on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic has shown an increase in depressive symptoms and anxiety. The pandemic has...
Study finds economic inequality promotes belief in conspiracy theories
New findings published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology indicates that economic inequality increases susceptibility to belief in conspiracy...
Republicans and Democrats are equally susceptible to conspiracy theories, study finds
A study published in Political Behavior examined large data sets from both the United States and 20 countries spanning 6...
People with a higher conspiracy mentality have a general tendency to judge others as untrustworthy
New research published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology suggests that a tendency to readily believe conspiracy theories coincides with a general...
New research identifies a cognitive paradox related to anti-vaccine attitudes
Why are some people so quick to believe dubious claims over well-established science? A study published in Personality and Individual...
People attribute information they found online to their own memory instead of the internet
Human cognition is now so intertwined the internet, a knowledge-sharing system that can be accessed any time anywhere, that the...
Psychology study explores how labeling an idea a “conspiracy theory” impacts its credibility
A recent study explores the psychology behind labeling ideas as conspiracy theories. The findings, published in the British Journal of Psychology, suggest...
People who endorse conspiracy theories tend to be more religious, and this may be due to ideological overlap
A large study published in the journal Political Psychology suggests that the link between conspiracy belief and religiosity is rooted in cognitive...
Mindfulness can help explain the relationship between neuroticism and cognitive failures, study suggests
The Five Factor Model of Personality (also known as The Big Five) refers to the traits of Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion,...
Conspiracy mentality associated with extreme left- and right-wing beliefs across 26 countries
A large-scale project involving over 100,000 people from 26 countries concluded that conspiracy mentality was associated with extreme left- and...
National narcissism identified as a robust predictor of belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories
New research published Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin provides evidence that national narcissism is strongly tied to the spread of...
Having a conspiratorial mindset doesn’t appear to help people deal with uncertainty or reduce anxiety
Conspiracy theories might offer a straightforward and simple explanations for complex events. But new research published in the Personality and...
People who believe COVID-19 misinformation are more likely to contract the virus
Having less accurate knowledge about COVID-19 is associated with a greater likelihood of contracting the virus, according to new research...
Narcissists’ proneness to conspiracy belief is partly driven by a desire to be unique and heightened paranoia
A study published in the Journal of Research in Personality sheds new light on the psychological features that tie narcissism to conspiracy...