- Conspiracy theories also have in common that they are agentic, involve malevolent or forbidden acts, are epistemically risky, are oppositional, and are social constructs.
- We propose a metatheoretical framework that allows us to generate hypotheses about the antecedents, consequences, and communication of conspiracy theories based on these defining characteristics.
- We argue that this new framework can move forward the literature on the psychology of conspiracy theories.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
The authors are not aware of any affiliations, memberships, funding, or financial holdings that might be perceived as affecting the objectivity of this review.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
K.M.D. acknowledges the support of the European Research Council Advanced Grant “Consequences of conspiracy theories—CONSPIRACY_FX” (number 101018262) in the preparation of this article. The authors thank Daniel Toribio-Flórez for his help with referencing.
LITERATURE CITED
- Abalakina-Paap M, Stephan WG, Craig T, Gregory WL. 1999. Beliefs in conspiracies. Political Psychol. 20(3):637–47
- Adam-Troian J, Wagner-Egger P, Motyl M, Arciszewski T, Imhoff R, et al. 2021. Investigating the links between cultural values and belief in conspiracy theories: the key roles of collectivism and masculinity. Political Psychol. 42(4):597–618
- Ardèvol-Abreu A, Gil de Zúñiga H, Gámez E. 2020. The influence of conspiracy beliefs on conventional and unconventional forms of political participation: the mediating role of political efficacy. Br. J. Soc. Psychol. 59(2):549–69
- Arendt H. 1998. The Human Condition. Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press. 2nd ed.
- Basham L. 2003. Malevolent global conspiracy. J. Soc. Philos. 34(1):91–103
- Bertin P, Nera K, Delouvée S. 2020. Conspiracy beliefs, rejection of vaccination, and support for hydroxychloroquine: a conceptual replication-extension in the COVID-19 pandemic context. Front. Psychol. 11:565128
- Bessi A, Coletto M, Davidescu GA, Scala A, Caldarelli G, Quattrociocchi W. 2015. Science versus conspiracy: collective narratives in the age of misinformation. PLOS ONE 10(2):e0118093
- Biddlestone M, Green R, Cichocka A, Douglas KM, Sutton RM. 2022. A systematic review and meta-analytic synthesis of the motives associated with conspiracy beliefs. PsyArXiv, April 8. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/rxjqc
- Biddlestone M, Green R, Cichocka A, Sutton RM, Douglas KM. 2021. Conspiracy beliefs and the individual, relational, and collective selves. Soc. Pers. Psychol. Compass 15(10):e12639
- Biddlestone M, Green R, Douglas KM. 2020. Cultural orientation, power, belief in conspiracy theories, and intentions to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Br. J. Soc. Psychol. 59(3):663–73
- Bierwiaczonek K, Gundersen AB, Kunst JR. 2022. The role of conspiracy beliefs for COVID-19 health responses: a meta-analysis. Curr. Opin. Psychol. 46:101346
- Bilewicz M, Winiewski M, Kofta M, Wójcik A. 2013. Harmful ideas, the structure and consequences of anti-Semitic beliefs in Poland. Political Psychol. 34(6):821–39
- Brotherton R, French CC. 2014. Belief in conspiracy theories and susceptibility to the conjunction fallacy. Appl. Cogn. Psychol. 28(2):238–48
292Douglas • Sutton
