conspiracy beliefs
Definition
Conspiracy beliefs refers to the tendency to accept simple explanations for complex events, typically implicating powerful individuals or groups such as governments as concealing the true causes of those events. People who hold such beliefs more strongly tend to experience greater negative emotions, higher social isolation, and reduced reliance on family, friends, or social networks when difficulties arise. One mechanism contributing to this isolation is social stigmatisation: because conspiracy beliefs are broadly stigmatised, individuals who hold them find the social support available to them reduced. Research using a 24-hour digital media disconnection task across Chinese and Australian samples found that conspiracy mentality predicted more negative emotions during unplugging, with social isolation mediating that relationship.
Sources: Jetten et al. (2023)
Related Terms
- social media (1 shared article)
- unplugging (1 shared article)
- social isolation (1 shared article)
- well-being (1 shared article)
Applications
Conspiracy Beliefs and Social Isolation
Individuals higher in conspiracy mentality report greater feelings of social isolation, a pattern observed in both a Chinese sample, where the correlation between conspiracy mentality and social isolation was r = .47 (p < .001), and an Australian sample, where it was r = .20 (p < .05). Social isolation in turn mediated the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and negative emotions during a 24-hour unplugging experience, suggesting that the distress associated with going offline is at least partly explained by the loss of the online social support that conspiracy believers depend on more heavily.
Sources: Jetten et al. (2023)
Conspiracy Beliefs and Negative Emotions
Stronger endorsement of conspiracy theories is associated with greater negative emotions, a finding that extends to the specific context of voluntary digital media disconnection. Across both the Chinese and Australian samples, higher conspiracy mentality scores predicted significantly more negative emotions during a 24-hour unplugging challenge, with the effect mediated by reduced social support and increased social isolation.
Sources: Jetten et al. (2023)
