"Just Because It's a Conspiracy Theory Doesn't Mean They're Not Out to Get You": Differentiating the Correlates of Judgments of Plausible Versus Implausible Conspiracy Theories

Publication type:
Journal article
Metadata:
Autoren
Autoren-URL
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=fis-test-1&SrcAuth=WosAPI&KeyUT=WOS:001196639900001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=WOS_CPL
DOI
10.1177/19485506241240506
eISSN
1948-5514
Externe Identifier
  • Clarivate Analytics Document Solution ID: MW3T8
ISSN
1948-5506
Zeitschrift
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PERSONALITY SCIENCE
Schlüsselwörter
  • conspiracy theories
  • conspiracy mentality
  • plausibility
  • cognitive skills
  • critical thinking
Datum der Veröffentlichung
2024
Status
Published
Titel
"Just Because It's a Conspiracy Theory Doesn't Mean They're Not Out to Get You": Differentiating the Correlates of Judgments of Plausible Versus Implausible Conspiracy Theories
Sub types
  • Article
  • Early Access

Data source: Web of Science (Lite)

Other metadata sources:
Abstract
<jats:p> Although conspiracy theories exhibit varying degrees of plausibility as explanations for societal events, they are typically considered epistemically problematic. Since normative ascriptions of plausibility are not essential to their definition, we sought to examine whether judgments of (im)plausible conspiracy theories have different psychological underpinnings. In two preregistered studies ( N = 563), the plausibility of fictitious conspiracy theories was operationalized by pretest ratings (Study 1) or by experimentally manipulating supporting information in a belief updating paradigm (Study 2). While the general suspicious mind-set of conspiracy mentality was associated with perceiving greater plausibility in consensually plausible conspiracy theories, this was markedly stronger for implausible conspiracy theories. Cognitive variables were only negatively associated with attributing greater plausibility to conspiracy theories deemed implausible. The results suggest that a general suspicious perspective, along with limited cognitive skills and rational thinking dispositions, is related to biased plausibility judgments of conspiracy theories and the underweighting of information disconfirming them. </jats:p>
Autoren
DOI
10.1177/19485506241240506
eISSN
1948-5514
ISSN
1948-5506
Zeitschrift
Social Psychological and Personality Science
Sprache
en
Online publication date
2024
Status
Published online
Herausgeber
SAGE Publications
Herausgeber URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/19485506241240506
Datum der Datenerfassung
2024
Titel
“Just Because It’s a Conspiracy Theory Doesn’t Mean They’re Not Out to Get You”: Differentiating the Correlates of Judgments of Plausible Versus Implausible Conspiracy Theories

Data source: Crossref

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