Background The number of psychological studies on conspiracy beliefs has been
systematically growing for about a dozen years, but in recent years, the trend has intensified …

A conspiracy theory refers to an alternative explanation of an event involving a conspirator
plot organised by powerful people or organisations. Belief in conspiracy theories is related …

Conspiratorial thinking has been with humanity for a long time but has recently grown as a
source of societal concern and as a subject of research in the cognitive and social sciences …

There are many examples of people believing in conspiracy theories showing non-
normative behaviors. But why is this the case? The current contribution proposes that the …

Conspiracy theories–which posit that secret groups cooperate to pursue malevolent goals–
are a prominent feature in social and political discourse. Psychological research on …

What leads people to believe in conspiracy theories? In this paper, we explore the possibility
that people might be drawn towards conspiracy theories because believing in them might …

In contemporary society, people are frequently faced with threats to the social order (eg,
terrorist attacks). These threats often give rise to belief in conspiracy theories, which assume …

Conspiracy theories widely influence our social and political lives. Thus, it is no surprise that
in recent years, much research has focused on the factors that may drive the belief in such …

What are the origins of belief in conspiracy theories? The dominant approach to studying
conspiracy theories links belief to social stresses or personality type, and does not take into …

Although conspiracy theories are endorsed by about half the population and occasionally
turn out to be true, they are more typically false beliefs that, by definition, have a paranoid …