Depressive symptoms and conspiracy beliefs

Abstract

Conspiratorial beliefs can endanger individuals and societies by increasing the likelihood of harmful behaviors such as the flouting of public health guidelines. While scholars have identified various correlates of conspiracy beliefs, one factor that has received scant attention is depressive symptoms. We use three large surveys to explore the connection between depression and conspiracy beliefs. We find a consistent association, with the extent of the relationship depending on individual and situational factors. Interestingly, those from relatively advantaged demographic groups (i.e., White, male, high income, educated) exhibit a stronger relationship between depression and conspiracy beliefs than those not from such groups. Furthermore, situational variables that ostensibly increase stress—such as having COVID‐19 or parenting during COVID‐19—exacerbate the relationship while those that seem to decrease stress, such as social support, vitiate it. The results provide insight about the development of targeted interventions and accentuate the need for theorizing about the mechanisms that lead depression to correlate with conspiracy beliefs.

Editorial—The truth is out there: The psychology of conspiracy theories and how to counter them

“…Green et al (2022) tackle another understudied area using a novel methodology: the link between depressive symptoms and belief in conspiracy theories. Using a unique three‐wave dataset from the multicollaborative COVID States project, the authors investigated the link between depression and belief in conspiracy theories using a single‐learner algorithm, a machine learning approach that can be used to help uncover heterogeneity in the relationship between a predictor and outcome variable.…”

Conspiracies and contagion: COVID-19 related beliefs and associated mental health symptomatology

“…Perlis et al, (2022) analyzed longitudinal panel data showing that people experiencing moderate or severe depressive symptoms at an early point in the pandemic were more likely to endorse misinformation which has been consistently associated with conspiratorial ideation. Finally, in a more recent report, Green et al, (2023) analyzed the results of three large surveys which provide evidence that in situations that induce feelings of loss of control, (i.e., illness or caring for dependents), depression exacerbates the feeling and makes adopting conspiracy beliefs more likely. Our results reinforce these finding.…”

Exploring the Nexus between Conspiracy Beliefs and Creativity, Attitudes toward People, and Psychological Wellbeing: Insights from the 10th European Social Survey

“…Attempting interventions to reduce conspiracy beliefs and enhance believers' psychological wellbeing could potentially have adverse effects, similar to the unintended consequences of eliminating well-integrated non-native species in a habitat, risking destabilization of the local ecosystem. Furthermore, it is conceivable that belief in conspiracies may function as an auxiliary mechanism in the symptom system [155][156][157], though these presumptions require further investigation.…”