pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Individual, intergroup and nation-level influences on belief in conspiracy theories - PubMed

Review

Individual, intergroup and nation-level influences on belief in conspiracy theories

Matthew J Hornsey et al. Nat Rev Psychol. 2023.

Abstract

Conspiracy theories are part of mainstream public life, with the potential to undermine governments, promote racism, ignite extremism and threaten public health efforts. Psychological research on conspiracy theories is booming, with more than half of the academic articles on the topic published since 2019. In this Review, we synthesize the literature with an eye to understanding the psychological factors that shape willingness to believe conspiracy theories. We begin at the individual level, examining the cognitive, clinical, motivational, personality and developmental factors that predispose people to believe conspiracy theories. Drawing on insights from social and evolutionary psychology, we then review research examining conspiracy theories as an intergroup phenomenon that reflects and reinforces societal fault lines. Finally, we examine how conspiracy theories are shaped by the economic, political, cultural and socio-historical contexts at the national level. This multilevel approach offers a deep and broad insight into conspiracist thinking that increases understanding of the problem and offers potential solutions.

Keywords: Human behaviour; Psychology.

© Springer Nature America, Inc. 2022, Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. A multilevel understanding of the factors associated with conspiracy beliefs.

Conspiracy beliefs are influenced by individual factors at the micro level, intergroup dynamics at the meso level and national factors at the macro level.

Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Summary of meta-analytic insights into the correlates of conspiracy beliefs.

Estimated effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals for the correlations between individual-level and intergroup factors and conspiracy beliefs as reported by five meta-analyses. Marker size and line thickness represent the number of primary studies included in the meta-analysis: larger markers and thicker lines denote 30 primary studies; smaller markers and thinner lines denote 20 primary studies. CI, confidence interval. Data taken from refs.,,,,.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Gruber ID. The American revolution as a conspiracy: the British view. William Mary Q. 1969;26:360–372. doi: 10.2307/1918575. - DOI
    1. Uscinski J, et al. Have beliefs in conspiracy theories increased over time? PLoS ONE. 2022;17:e0270429. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0270429. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Uscinski, J. E. & Parent, J. M. American Conspiracy Theories (Oxford Univ. Press, 2014).
    1. van Prooijen J-W, van Vugt M. Conspiracy theories: evolved functions and psychological mechanisms. Perspect. Psychol. Sci. 2018;13:770–788. doi: 10.1177/1745691618774270. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Goertzel T. Conspiracy theories in science: conspiracy theories that target specific research can have serious consequences for public health and environmental policies. EMBO Rep. 2010;11:493–499. doi: 10.1038/embor.2010.84. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources