title: Conspiracist ideation in Britain and Austria: evidence of a monological belief system and associations between individual psychological differences and real-world and fictitious conspiracy theories.
abstract: Despite evidence of widespread belief in conspiracy theories, there remains a dearth of research on the individual difference correlates of conspiracist ideation. In two studies, we sought to overcome this limitation by examining correlations between conspiracist ideation and a range of individual psychological factors. In Study 1, 817 Britons indicated their agreement with conspiracist ideation concerning the July 7, 2005 (7/7), London bombings, and completed a battery of individual difference scales. Results showed that stronger belief in 7/7 conspiracy theories was predicted by stronger belief in other real-world conspiracy theories, greater exposure to conspiracist ideation, higher political cynicism, greater support for democratic principles, more negative attitudes to authority, lower self-esteem, and lower Agreeableness. In Study 2, 281 Austrians indicated their agreement with an entirely fictitious conspiracy theory and completed a battery of individual difference measures not examined in Study 1. Results showed that belief in the entirely fictitious conspiracy theory was significantly associated with stronger belief in other real-world conspiracy theories, stronger paranormal beliefs, and lower crystallized intelligence. These results are discussed in terms of the potential of identifying individual difference constellations among conspiracy theorists.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Westminster, London, UK. v.swami@wmin.ac.uk
authors.forename: Viren
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Swami
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Coles
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stieger
authors.forename: Jakob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pietschnig
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Furnham
authors.forename: Sherry
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rehim
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Voracek
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001317:Austria; D003469:Culture; D003702:Delusions / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D011057:Politics; D012649:Self Concept; D006113:United Kingdom