Beliefs can be highly resilient in the sense that they are not easily abandoned in the face of
counterevidence. This has the advantage of guiding consistent behavior and judgments but …

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 …

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 …

People often discount evidence that contradicts their firmly held beliefs. However, little is
known about the neural mechanisms that govern this behavior. We used neuroimaging to …

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 …

Conspiracy theories are part of mainstream public life, with the potential to undermine
governments, promote racism, ignite extremism and threaten public health efforts …

In this introduction to the EJSP Special Issue on conspiracy theories as a social
psychological phenomenon, we describe how this emerging research domain has …

Conspiracy beliefs are often viewed as a form of psychopathology, closely linked to anxiety,
paranoia, and maladaptive traits. However, recent research has brought attention to …

Recent studies on conspiracy theories employ standardized questionnaires, thus neglecting
their narrative qualities by reducing them to mere statements. Recipients are considered as …

People who strongly endorse conspiracy theories often proclaim to be rational skeptics and
“critical freethinkers” who “just ask questions.” Indeed, many well-known conspiracy theories …