The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories
Conspiracy theories are influential. Empirical work, both of my own and other scholars have indeed shown that this is the case. Whilst watching “Did we land on the moon” on channel 5 last night, I therefore wondered what influence this documentary could have on someone’s beliefs about the moon landing, since it appeared to be very pro-conspiracy focused. For example, a series of studies co-authored by Karen Douglas and myself, which are due to be published in the British Journal of Psychology, have shown that after exposure to pro-conspiracy information (i.e., information that supports conspiracy theories concerning governmental or climate change conspiracies) participants were more likely to endorse a variety of conspiracy theories (i.e., 9/11, Diana etc.), relative to those who were exposed to anti-conspiracy information, or who were in a control condition. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that this exposure can also influence a person’s behavioural intentions – specifically being detrimental for…
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