A Test of the Grapevine: An Empirical Examination of Conspiracy Theories Among African Americans

Parsons, Stephen; Simmons, William Paul; Shinhoster, Frankie; Kilburn, John C.

doi:10.1080/027321799280235

Cited by 85 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…This suggests that BICT may stem, at least in part, from feelings of dislocation from society and social institutions. Alienation and anomie may also account for the interesting finding that BICT are higher in ethnic minority individuals (Crocker et al, 1999; Parsons et al, 1999; Bird and Bogart, 2003) because these are groups who, traditionally, have not been involved in government and other business, political and social institutions, and hence feel disconnected from authoritative decision-making processes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Not only are beliefs in conspiracy theories widespread and on the increase (e.g., Goertzel, 1994; Swami et al, 2011), they are also prone to a third person effect whereby we feel others believe in conspiracy theories more than we do (Douglas and Sutton, 2008). Conspiracy beliefs also have profound importance in a society where conspiracy accounts are implicated in erroneous interpretations of important events (Leman and Cinnirella, 2007), may be associated with mistrust of political and social institutions (Kramer, 1999), and affect behavior such as the decision whether to pursue health care (Bird and Bogart, 2003; Tickner et al, 2010) or cooperate with the criminal justice system (Parsons et al, 1999). It is somewhat surprising then, that with some notable exceptions (e.g., Graumann and Moscovici, 1987; Swami et al, 2011), comparatively few studies have sought to examine factors and processes that are associated with beliefs in conspiracy theories.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Beliefs in conspiracy theories and the need for cognitive closure

Leman¹,

Cinnirella²

2013

Front. Psychol.

127

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An important component of conspiracy theories is how they influence, and are influenced by, the evaluation of potential evidence. Some individuals may be more open minded regarding certain explanations for events whereas others may seek closure and thus cut off a conspiracy explanation. Two studies examined the relationship between the need for cognitive closure (NFCC), levels of belief in real world conspiracy theories, and the attribution of conspiracy theories to explain events. A first, small (N = 30) and preliminary study found no relationship between NFCC and beliefs in conspiracy theories, suggesting that both advocates and opponents of conspiracy explanations do not differ on this dimension. A second study (N = 86) revealed that evidence for and against conspiracy theories had an influence on attributions of the likelihood of a conspiracy to explain a novel event. Specifically, after reading evidence individuals with high levels of belief in conspiracy theories tended to rate a conspiracy explanation as more likely whereas those with low levels of belief rated it as less likely. However, when the need for cognitive closure (NFCC) was experimentally lowered the effects of prior beliefs in conspiracy theories diminished.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Beliefs in conspiracy theories and the need for cognitive closure

Leman¹,

Cinnirella²

2013

Front. Psychol.

127

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“…applies more to people who believe in conspiracy theories than to people who do not believe in conspiracy theories. Moreover, conspiracy believers are more likely to be members of often socially disadvantaged minority groups (Crocker, Luhtanen, Broadnax, & Blaine, 1999;Freeman & Bentall, 2017;Parsons, Simmons, Shinhoster, & Kilburn, 1999;Stempel, Hargrove, & Stempel, 2007;Uscinski & Parent, 2014), and are more likely to report a feeling of powerlessness and anomie (Abalakina-Paap, Stephan, Craig, & Gregory, 1999;Goertzel, 1994;Jolley & Douglas, 2014a). Given that "rejection is an indicator of stigma" (Miller & Kaiser, 2001, p. 190), this could be seen an indirect hint in favor of the stigmatized condition of conspiracy believers.…”

Section: The Hypothesis Of Conspiracy Theories As a Social Stigmamentioning

confidence: 99%

Stigmatized Beliefs: Conspiracy Theories, Anticipated Negative Evaluation of the Self, and Fear of Social Exclusion

Lantian¹,

Michelet²,

Nurra³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Can conspiracy theories be a source of social stigma? If it is true, it would follow that people may expect to be socially excluded when they express endorsement of conspiracy theories. This effect should be partially explained by the knowledge of the negative perceptions associated with conspiracy theories. In Study 1, inducing French internet users to write a text endorsing (vs. criticizing) conspiracy theories about the Charlie Hebdo shooting, led them to anticipate fear of social exclusion. This effect was mediated by anticipated negative evaluation of the self. In Study 2, inducing French internet users to imagine defending (vs. criticizing) conspiracy theories about the Charlie Hebdo shooting in front of an audience, led them to anticipate fear of social exclusion. The effect was again mediated by anticipated negative evaluation of the self. To conclude, our findings demonstrate that conspiracy theories can be viewed as a source of social stigma.Keywords:

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“…Estes resultados sugerem a existência de uma disposição psicológica estável, semelhante aos traços de personalidade (Brotherton, 2015). Em termos cognitivos e afetivos, fortes crenças em teorias conspiratórias também estão associadas à desconfiança social generalizada (Goertzel, 1994;Darwin, Neave, & Holmes, 2011), descontentamento com a sociedade (Goertzel, 1994), hostilidade (Abalakina-Paap, Stephan, Craig, & Gregory, 1999), cinismo (Parsons, Simmons, Shinhoster, & Kilburn, 1999), desafio à autoridade (Swami, Chamorro-Premuzic, & Furnham, 2010), ansiedade (Swami et al, 2013), desagradabilidade (Bruder, Haffke, Neave, Nouripanah, & Imhoff, 2013), necessidade de ser único (Lantian, Muller, Nurra, & Douglas, 2017), menor pensamento analítico, abertura à mudança e maior pensamento intuitivo (Swami, Voracek, Stieger, Tran, & Furnham, 2014). Importante notar também que indivíduos com fortes crenças conspiratórias podem ser mais suscetíveis a certos erros sistemáticos de raciocínio indutivo, como o viés da intencionalidade (Brotherton & French, 2015), o viés da proporcionalidade (McCauley & Jacques, 1979) e o viés confirmatório (McHoskey, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

A verdade está lá fora: Adaptação e avaliação das propriedades psicométricas da Escala Genérica de Crenças Conspiratórias (EGCC-Br)

Matsunaga

Pereira

Oliveira

et al. 2019

PsiRev

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ResumoTeorias conspiratórias geralmente apresentam perguntas irrespondíveis e são, em última instância, irrefutáveis. Tais crenças possuem implicações em diversos contextos em que são necessárias tomadas de decisões. Para tanto, torna-se necessário desenvolver ou adaptar medidas que auxiliem a identificação de tais crenças. Assim, este estudo propôs a adaptação da Escala Genérica sobre Crenças Conspiratórias. No primeiro estudo foi realizada a tradução e retradução do instrumento por especialistas na língua inglesa. Logo, ambas as traduções foram submetidas à análise de dois juízes para verificar a qualidade e adequação à versão original. Após ajustes, a escala foi submetida à outra análise de juízes de forma a verificar a coerência semântica e a adequação categórica dos itens. A concordância das categorias para cada item entre os juízes foi satisfatória (índice kappa de 0,75). Para o segundo estudo, buscou-se averiguar as propriedades psicométricas do instrumento (N = 138). Os resultados da análise fatorial confirmatória atestaram uma nova estrutura fatorial para o modelo. Por fim, os autores sugerem tanto novos estudos para identificação de evidências de validade da adaptação quanto aplicações e intervenções, com uso da escala em futuras políticas públicas. Palavras-chave: crenças; teorias conspiratórias; adaptação cultural; avaliação psicométrica. AbstractConspiracy theories often pose unanswerable questions and are ultimately irrefutable. Such beliefs have implications in many contexts in which decisionmaking is needed. Therefore, it is necessary to develop or adapt measures that help to identify such beliefs. Thus, this work proposed the adaptation of the Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale. For the first study, translation and retranslation of the instrument were conducted by specialists in the English language. Both translations were submitted to the analysis of raters to verify the quality and adequacy to the original version. After adjustments, the scale was submitted to the analysis of raters in order to verify items' semantic coherence and categorical adequacy. For each item, the agreement for the categories among raters was satisfactory (kappa index of 0.75). The second study intended to ascertain the psychometric properties of the instrument (N = 138). Results of the confirmatory factor analysis proposed a new factorial structure for the model. Finally, new studies were suggested to gather evidence for the validity of this adaptation, as well as applications and interventions using the scale in future public policies.

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A Test of the Grapevine: An Empirical Examination of Conspiracy Theories Among African Americans

Cited by 85 publications

References 4 publications

Beliefs in conspiracy theories and the need for cognitive closure

Beliefs in conspiracy theories and the need for cognitive closure

Stigmatized Beliefs: Conspiracy Theories, Anticipated Negative Evaluation of the Self, and Fear of Social Exclusion

A verdade está lá fora: Adaptação e avaliação das propriedades psicométricas da Escala Genérica de Crenças Conspiratórias (EGCC-Br)

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