Abstract

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 theme. Consequently, psychological research to date has focused on determining whether there are traits that account for belief in conspiracy theories (BCT) within a deficit model. Alternatively, a two-component, socio-epistemic model of BCT is proposed that seeks to account for the ubiquity of conspiracy theories, their variance along a continuum, and the inconsistency of research findings likening them to psychopathology. Within this model, epistemic mistrust is the core component underlying conspiracist ideation that manifests as the rejection of authoritative information, focuses the specificity of conspiracy theory beliefs, and can sometimes be understood as a sociocultural response to breaches of trust, inequities of power, and existing racial prejudices. Once voices of authority are negated due to mistrust, the resulting epistemic vacuum can send individuals “down the rabbit hole” looking for answers where they are vulnerable to the biased processing of information and misinformation within an increasingly “post-truth” world. The two-component, socio-epistemic model of BCT argues for mitigation strategies that address both mistrust and misinformation processing, with interventions for individuals, institutions of authority, and society as a whole.

Highlights

  • 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 theme

  • The two-component, socio-epistemic model of belief in conspiracy theories (BCT) offers a potentially normalizing account of conspiracist ideation based on a reciprocal relationship between mistrust and belief in misinformation

  • Epistemic mistrust can be more broadly understood as a psychosocial phenomenon with both individual cognitive and interactional sociocultural determinants that can be both highly specific as well as potentially appropriate to a situation

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Summary

Introduction

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 theme. Consistent with this definition, a two-component, socio-epistemic model is proposed whereby belief in conspiracy theories (BCT) can be understood as a result of mistrusting conventional knowledge and authoritative accounts (“epistemic mistrust”) along with a biased appraisal of false counter-narratives (“misinformation processing”).

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