Research
New psychology research challenges a popular explanation for why conspiracy theories cluster together
PsyPost · By Eric W. Dolan ·
The Brief
- A large-scale analysis across 17 country samples challenges the view that a general conspiracy mentality drives belief clustering.
- The study was published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, according to PsyPost.
- The source is a short summary; the full methods and findings are not provided here.
Why it matters
Researchers and readers who assume conspiracy beliefs share one overarching mindset may need to reconsider that explanation, which affects how misinformation and belief patterns are interpreted.
- #conspiracy theories
- #social psychology
- #conspiracy mentality
- #belief clustering
- #psychology research
Psychologists often assume that people who believe in specific conspiracy theories are driven by an overarching “conspiracy mentality,” a broad mindset of suspicion toward powerful groups. A large-scale analysis across 17 country samples, published in the European Journal of…
Timeline
PsyPost reports on the research challenging the conspiracy mentality explanation
PsyPost – Psychology News
New psychology research challenges a popular explanation for why conspiracy theories cluster together