Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy theories might offer a straightforward and simple explanations for complex events. But new research published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin suggests that they do not do much to help people cope with the experience of anxiety, uncertainty,...

Having less accurate knowledge about COVID-19 is associated with a greater likelihood of contracting the virus, according to new research published in Scientific Reports. The findings indicate that people who believe misinformation about COVID-19 are at greater risk of getting...

A study published in the Journal of Research in Personality sheds new light on the psychological features that tie narcissism to conspiracy thinking. The findings suggest that while people who are high in grandiose narcissism are more likely to believe in conspiracy...

A study published in the journal of Personality and Individual Differences found that Machiavellianism, primary psychopathy, and collective narcissism positively predicted belief in COVID-19 conspiracies. Further, COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs explained the negative relationship between these dark personality traits and the...

"Conspiracy theories are in many ways harmful for society. But, this study suggests that in the long run, conspiracy theories also are associated with harmful health and well-being outcomes for believers themselves."

Anti-establishment sentiments are a key component of political opinion and behavior in the United States and are distinct from traditional indicators of political ideology, according to new research. "Especially with the ascendance of Trump, we witnessed a blending of left-right...

"Conspiracy theories have a storyline that actually has a lot in common with entertaining works of fiction, such as a scary movie of a detective novel. This also explains their appeal: People find conspiracy theories entertaining, that is, interesting, exciting,...

New research sheds light on the relationship between distrust of new scientific innovations and the general tendency to believe in conspiracies. The study provides evidence that different facets of conspiracism predict different anti-science attitudes. The findings have been published in...

A study published in Applied Cognitive Psychology sheds light on how a person’s worldview can lead them to jump to erroneous conclusions in domains that correspond to these views. The researchers found that greater conspiracy belief was associated with increased...

A study published in the British Journal of Health Psychology sheds light on a promising avenue for reducing vaccine hesitancy. The researchers found that when people with a conspiracy mindset perceived their social circle as being supportive of vaccines (including...

New research published in Applied Cognitive Psychology provides evidence that critical thinking skills are negatively related to belief in conspiracy theories. In other words, the study suggests that people with greater critical thinking skills are less likely to believe that...

A study from the journal Personality and Individual Differences suggests that there may be an underlying, shared feature of dark personality traits that explains why each one is tied to conspiracy belief. The study found that nearly all of the...

NOTICE: The editors of PLOS ONE retracted this study, alleging that the research contained significant methodological flaws, including inadequate sampling, unbalanced search terms, and improper network analyses. The authors disagreed with the retraction and stood by their findings, despite the...

COVID-19 has become one of the defining global events of the decade. It has affected more lives than nearly any other phenomenon of the 20th century, and has become critically embedded in many nations’ culture and psyche. It is also...

New research published in Political Psychology provides the first evidence that culture can shape the endorsement of conspiracy theories. The researchers analyzed data from multiple countries and found that the cultural values of masculinity and collectivism were consistent predictors of...