Authors
Jan-Willem Van Prooijen
Publication date
2019/4/3
Book
The social psychology of gullibility
Pages
319-332
Publisher
Routledge
Description
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—such as 9/11-for-truth theories, but also flat earth conspiracy theories—are based on a range of seemingly articulate and well-crafted arguments. Do conspiracy theories originate from rational skepticism, or rather from gullibility? In this chapter I review the evidence, which reveals that (a) conspiracy beliefs correlate positively with various implausible beliefs, including paranormal belief, superstition, belief in pseudoscience, and “bullshit” receptivity; (b) conspiracy beliefs predict increased susceptibility to a range of cognitive biases, including the conjunction fallacy, illusory pattern perception, over-detecting agency, and anthropomorphism; (c) belief in conspiracy theories predicts increased stereotyping; and (d) belief in conspiracy …
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