The vicious cycle of violent intergroup conflicts and conspiracy theories

Hebel-Sela, Shira; Hameiri, Boaz; Halperin, Eran

doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101422

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. especially for countries involved in a conflict, as belief in conspiracy theories could potentially impair the ability to work toward conflict resolution (Hebel-Sela et al, 2022). Additionally, some very preliminary evidence shows that there are some indications that closed-mindedness plays a role in this relationship (see Supplemental Materials, for more information).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The current research is the first to provide empirical evidence to this claim by showing that a country’s level of conflict is associated with greater belief in conspiracy theories. These results have far-reaching implications, especially for countries involved in a conflict, as belief in conspiracy theories could potentially impair the ability to work toward conflict resolution (Hebel-Sela et al, 2022). Additionally, some very preliminary evidence shows that there are some indications that closed-mindedness plays a role in this relationship (see , for more information).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conspiracy theories flourish in times of collective threats as, according to the theory, they provide an object to blame (van Prooijen & van Vugt, 2018). As indicated above, since conflicts are characterized by high levels of threat to society, they may increase the need to look for potential sources of threat and thus lead to belief in conspiracy theories (Hebel-Sela et al, 2022).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Are societies in conflict more susceptible to believe in COVID-19 conspiracy theories? A 66 nation study.

Hebel-Sela¹,

Stefaniak²,

Vandermeulen³

et al. 2023

Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology

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Conspiracy theories widely influence our social and political lives. A recent example is the broad impact such theories had on government's efforts to halt the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. In that context, public's compliance and willingness to get vaccinated was found to be substantially and negatively affected by the belief in conspiracy theories, among various factors. In the present study, we tested whether some countries are more susceptible to conspiracy theories than others. We examined, for the first time, the idea that the degree of intensity of conflict predicts the degree of belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories. A multilevel analysis across 66 countries (N = 46,450) demonstrated that people living in countries with higher conflict intensity tended to be more susceptible to COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs. These findings are the first large-scale comparative evidence of the profound psychological effects of conflicts on the involved societies. Public Significance StatementThe belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories has severe implications on public's health. Thus, it is important to better understand the reasons behind such beliefs. The present study provides new information which helps to better understand the contexts in which conspiracy belief thrive.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Are societies in conflict more susceptible to believe in COVID-19 conspiracy theories? A 66 nation study.

Hebel-Sela¹,

Stefaniak²,

Vandermeulen³

et al. 2023

Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Political scientists must bridge the current divide between the political behaviour and conspiracy theory literatures (see Thórisdóttir et al, 2020). Recent research has begun exploring the role of conspiracy theories in motivating violence at the individual and collective levels (Vegetti and Littvay, 2022; Hebel-Sela et al, 2022; Amarasingam and Argentino, 2020; Rousis et al, 2022). In fact, Vegetti and Littvay (2022) find that conspiracy beliefs are related to attitudes towards political violence.…”

Section: Directions For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

I Trends

Bordeleau¹

2023

International Political Science Abstracts

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The profusion of conspiracy theories in recent social and political discourse is alarming. As a response to this increasingly concerning problem, there is a rapidly growing multidisciplinary literature on conspiracy theories and conspiratorial thinking. In this article, I review the state of the scholarship on conspiracy theories and its related concepts. I begin with a definition of conspiracy theories and key terms related to their communication and belief. Then, the article turns to the research on the spread, correlates, and consequences of conspiratorial beliefs, highlighting important findings and trends in research. Lastly, I discuss areas where research is lacking and future scholarly efforts should be placed. Altogether, this text provides a much-needed assessment and sorting of a rapidly evolving field of research that spans across several disciplinary boundaries.

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“…Yet, scholars have only seriously started to focus on the psychological underpinnings of conspiratorial thinking within the last decade or two (Douglas & Sutton, 2018). Given the known negative consequences of belief in conspiracy theories, including reduced intentions to act on climate change (Jolley & Douglas, 2014; van der Linden, 2015), endorsement of political violence (Hebel‐Sela et al, 2022; Jolley & Paterson, 2020; Vegetti & Littvay, 2022), a decreased likelihood of following public health guidance (Romer & Jamieson, 2021; Roozenbeek et al, 2020) and increased racism (Jolley et al, 2020; Swami, 2012), it is of critical importance to advance our understanding of both drivers and potential solutions. Interestingly, the majority of psychological research on conspiracy theories to date has remained largely self‐reported, correlational, and descriptive (Douglas & Sutton, 2018; Fong et al, 2021; van Prooijen & Douglas, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%