Conspiracy Beliefs Research Articles

Exploring the Mechanisms that Allow Incompatible Beliefs to Coexist in the Cognitive System.

Despite assumptions that people strive for consistency between their beliefs, endorsement of mutually incompatible ones is not rare - a tendency we have previously labelled doublethink, by borrowing from Orwell. In an attempt to understand the nature of doublethink and the underlying mechanism that enables incompatible beliefs to coexist, we conducted two preregistered studies (total N = 691). To do so, in Study 1, we first explored how doublethink relates to (1) thinking styles (rational/intuitive, actively open-minded thinking, and need for cognitive closure), (2) a set of irrational beliefs (magical health, conspiratorial, superstitious, and paranormal beliefs) and (3) its predictiveness for questionable health practices (non-adherence to medical recommendations and use of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine). We then additionally expanded the set of health behaviors in Study 2, and related doublethink to trust in two epistemic authorities - science and the wisdom of the common man. Finally, in both studies, we explored whether those prone to inconsistent beliefs are also more likely to simultaneously rely on conventional and alternative medicine, despite their apparent incompatibility. While doublethink was positively related to need for cognitive closure and different irrational beliefs that easily incorporate contradictions, as well as negatively to actively open-minded thinking, we did not find it to be predictive of the use of non-evidence-based medicine nor of its simultaneous use with official medicine. It seems that this novel construct can be best understood as a feature of the cognitive system that allows incompatible claims to enter it. However, once beliefs are within the system, they are compartmentalized, without any cross-referencing between them. This is further reflected in non-evidence-based beliefs persisting within the belief system, irrespective of their content.

Conspiracy mentality in autistic and non-autistic individuals

ABSTRACT Background Belief in conspiracy theories has emerged across times and cultures. While previous accounts attributed conspiracy beliefs to mental health conditions, accumulating research suggests that conspiracy theories are common among the general population. In the present study we examined whether conspiracy mentality – that is, a general predisposition to believe conspiracy theories – differed between a group of autistic adults and a general population sample. Methods This study included an autistic sample (n = 682) and a general population sample (n = 4358). Participants’ conspiracy mentality was measured using the Conspiracy Mentality Questionnaire (CMQ). Results A one-way ANCOVA (controlling for participants’ age, gender, educational level, and ethnicity) revealed no difference in conspiracy mentality between an autism and a community sample. Conclusions The current study suggests that being autistic, or having more autistic traits, does not predict conspiracy mentality. These findings underscore that autism does not predispose people to conspiracy theories and suggest that autism is neither a risk factor for, nor a protective factor against, conspiracy mentality.

General and maladaptive traits as predictors of specific conspiracy beliefs related to COVID-19 and Russian-Ukrainian war: three-wave longitudinal study

AbstractThe aim of the study was to investigate how general personality traits (Big Five) and maladaptive traits (Personality Inventory for DSM-5) predict specific conspiracy beliefs related to COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukrainian war. 925 participants from Slovakia, recruited via an online panel of a research agency (50.6% women, mean age 50.9 years), were interviewed in October 2021 with the Big Five Inventory Short (BFI-S) and the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 Brief Form (PID-5-BF). Later (July-August 2022 and April-May 2023), they completed the original scales to measure COVID-19 and Russian-Ukrainian war conspiracies. The results showed that after controlling for demographic variables, belief in specific conspiracies was positively predicted by extraversion and negatively predicted by agreeableness. Of the maladaptive traits, only psychoticism was a positive predictor of specific conspiracies. Since the effects were consistent across all types of conspiracies, the results suggest that personality traits may play a role in how people come to believe in specific conspiracies.

Belief in conspiracy theories and satisfaction in interpersonal relationships

AbstractResearchers have theorized about how belief in conspiracy theories can negatively affect interpersonal relationships. However, despite growing anecdotal evidence of the effects that conspiracy theories seem to have on people's relationships, a systematic assessment of these effects is lacking. In seven studies (six of them preregistered, N = 2526), we examined whether people's perceptions of others' conspiracy beliefs were negatively associated with their actual (or anticipated) relationship satisfaction with those others. We found that participants' perceptions of their social contacts' beliefs in general (Pilot Studies 1–2) and specific conspiracy theories (Study 1) were negatively associated with their relationship satisfaction with those contacts. Using a hypothetical scenario, we further observed that participants anticipated that their relationship satisfaction would worsen when one of these social contacts explicitly endorsed (vs. opposed) a conspiracy theory (Studies 2, 3a, and 3b). Finally, participants expected lower relationship satisfaction with a stranger who endorsed (vs. opposed) a conspiracy theory in their online dating profile (Study 4). Importantly, across all studies we observed that participants' own conspiracy beliefs moderated the association between others' conspiracy beliefs and relationship satisfaction, revealing a similarity–dissimilarity pattern: although the association was negative among participants with weaker conspiracy beliefs, we observed signals of reversal among participants with stronger conspiracy beliefs. Our findings further suggest that a process of attitudinal distancing (among other relational changes) could explain why perceived conspiracy beliefs negatively predicted relationship satisfaction. Taken together, this research provides evidence that conspiracy beliefs have the potential to harm interpersonal relationships.

The New Satanic Panic

Abstract A moral panic animated by conspiracy theories alleging ritual sex abuse swept through the United States in the 1980s. During that “Satanic Panic,” as it came to be known, people expressed fears of social change regarding gender and sexuality. Beginning in 2022, conservative politicians, pundits, and pastors in the United States levied similar accusations of child grooming, sex trafficking, and satanic sex abuse at the LGBTQ + community, teachers, liberals, and entertainment companies; these accusations were accompanied by repressive legislation and violence. Despite their political salience, little is known about the people who believe these accusations. Using a 2022 U.S. national survey (N = 2,001), we find that up to one-third of Americans believe accusations of satanic cult abuse, government sex trafficking, and an “agenda” to “groom” children into gay or trans lifestyles. These beliefs are correlated with a range of political attitudes (e.g., positive views of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and white nationalists) and policy preferences (e.g., overturning Roe v. Wade), as well as with normative (e.g., a desire to run for political office) and nonnormative (e.g., the acceptance of political violence) political intentions and behaviors. Regression analysis further reveals that these conspiracy theory beliefs are positively associated with dark psychological traits, antiestablishment orientations, and repressive views toward sex and gender. Our findings suggest that these accusations can spark dehumanization and deadly violence by mobilizing into politics people who possess strong feelings of political efficacy, but also antisocial traits, nonnormative tendencies, and a desire to undermine established political institutions.

“God is my vaccine”: the role of religion, conspiracy beliefs, and threat perception in relation to COVID-19 vaccination

AbstractReligious and conspiracy beliefs are based on the assumption that a potent force exists which is capable of affecting people’s destinies. According to compensatory control theory, the belief in such a potent external agent may serve to alleviate feelings of uncertainty and help restore a sense of control. This is of particular relevance and importance to attitudes and behaviour of religious individuals towards vaccinations during the Covid-19 pandemic, where a belief in such a potent external force controlling events and destinies may have lowered the sense of threat posed by Covid-19 and in turn reduced vaccination uptake. To test this, we conducted a cross-sectional study of highly religious adults in Poland (N = 213) and found that the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses taken was negatively predicted by conspiracy beliefs, perceived closeness to God, and frequency of church attendance, and positively predicted by the perceived COVID-19 threat. Furthermore, mediation analysis revealed that both conspiracy beliefs and perceived closeness to God were related to a decreased perception of the COVID-19 threat, which in turn led to a decreased number of vaccine doses received. Our study offers important insights for public health professionals and identifies further research pathways on conspiracy and religious beliefs in relation to health-related behaviours.

Germany under the Tinfoil Hat? The associations of the big five personality traits and coronavirus conspiracy beliefs with the intention to get vaccinated

BackgroundThe governments of democracies worldwide are relying on the active cooperation of their populations to combat COVID-19. Simultaneously, beliefs in conspiracy theories surrounding the pandemic have flourished. The present article examines the effects of the big five personality traits and conspiracy beliefs on the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in Germany. MethodsThis correlational, cross-sectional mediation analysis was conducted using data from a nationwide German household panel (N = 1390). ResultsOpenness to experience (β = −.082, p = .004) and neuroticism (β = .112, p < .001) showed direct effects on conspiracy beliefs, while conspiracy beliefs had the strongest effect on vaccination intention (β = −.424, p < .001). Indirect positive effects of openness (β = .035, p = .005) and negative effects of neuroticism (β = −.047, p < .001) on the intention to get vaccinated via conspiracy beliefs were identified, with a mediation in the strict sense only for openness. No direct or total effect of the big five on vaccination intention could be found. ConclusionsThe big five personality traits are associated, although indirectly, with the intention to be vaccinated. Compared with similar studies on the effects of the big five on COVID-19-related outcomes, we found slightly higher proportions of explained variance in conspiracy beliefs and significantly higher explained variance in vaccination intention. In order to increase the willingness to be vaccinated, targeted and nationwide uniform information measures should be provided addressing feelings of security, of not being excluded, and the activation of critical reasoning.

Hotter weather, less of a hoax? Testing the longitudinal association between experience of temperature anomalies and belief in climate change conspiracy theories

While people across the world are experiencing hotter summers, there is still a considerable number of people who believe that climate change is a hoax. It thus raises the question of whether the experience of local temperature anomalies would influence people's beliefs about climate change conspiracy. To address this question, we conducted a two-wave longitudinal study with participants from the U.S. (Study 1) and mainland China (Study 2), respectively. We expect that the experience of temperature anomalies would serve as a cognitive proxy that counteracts the hoax conspiracy narratives and thus would be negatively related to belief in such narratives. We further explored whether this negative association would be related to less perceived psychological distance, stronger negative emotions, and more climate change-related information exposure; and whether it would be weaker among people who tended to interpret things in a conspiracist manner (i.e., conspiracy mentality). In Study 1, our results support the hypothesized links cross-sectionally and longitudinally on the subjective experience of hotter summer, except for climate change-related information exposure. In Study 2, we found only cross-sectional associations between the constructs, except for climate change-related information exposure. Lastly, we found mixed evidence regarding the moderating role of conspiracy mentality between the studies. Our findings provide initial support that climate change conspiracy beliefs are malleable to people's subjective experience of temperature anomalies. The happening of temperature anomalies could be a crucial opportunity for promoting scientific understanding of climate change.

Development and use of an instrument to measure pseudoscientific beliefs in quantum mechanics: the PSEUDO-QM scale

ABSTRACT Background Quantum Mechanics (QM) is a crucial area for the development of future technologies and societal advancement. However, due to the increasing exposure of QM technological achievements in mainstream media, there is a growing body of misinformation and pseudoscientific quantum-related claims spreading through the internet. Purpose The primary objective of this paper is to present the design, development and construct validation of an instrument, called PSEUDO-QM, to measure QM-related pseudoscientific views. To this aim, we collected three types of validity evidence: structural, convergent and criterion-related. Sample The study analysed responses from two samples of Italian high school students (n = 450). Design and Methods Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to collect structural validity evidence of the PSEUDO-QM instrument. Convergent validity evidence was collected by inspecting the correlations between the PSEUDO-QM instrument and the generic pseudoscientific and conspiracy belief scales. Criterion-related evidence was collected by analysing the relationship among PSEUDO-QM scores, levels of scientific content consumption, and different profiles of trust in public and scientific institutions through correlation analysis and analysis of variance. Results The results indicate that the 11-item PSEUDO-QM instrument shows adequate structural and convergent validity evidence. Moreover, we found adequate criterion-related evidence, namely a significant negative association between the consumption of science-related content and PSEUDO-QM score and a significant positive association between beliefs in QM-related pseudoscientific claims and distrust in public and science agencies. Conclusions The PSEUDO-QM instrument can provide insights into the mechanisms that underlie the endorsement of pseudoscientific beliefs. It can also assist policy makers and science popularization practitioners in developing strategies to help citizens deal with science-related post-truths.

To Whom Thou Art Bound: Bicultural Identity Integration Moderates the Influence of Conspiracy Beliefs on Chinese Americans’ Ingroup Bias

Endorsing conspiracy beliefs about an outgroup typically fosters ingroup bias. However, the response of bicultural individuals to conspiracy theories about one of their ingroups remains understudied. We posited that bicultural individuals’ display of ingroup bias in such situations hinges on their levels of bicultural identity integration (BII). Two studies involving Chinese American participants revealed that conspiracy beliefs about China were associated with lower Chinese ingroup bias among those with higher BII levels. In Study 1, high BII Chinese Americans who endorsed conspiracy theories about China reported less favorable perceptions of the Chinese ingroup, but not among low BII Chinese Americans. Study 2 replicated findings in Study 1 in that high (vs. low) BII Chinese Americans with higher conspiracy beliefs about China were less willing to allocate monetary resources to a fictitious Chinese charity and reported lower Chinese patriotism. This research contributes to the identity integration literature by illustrating how bicultural individuals with varying BII levels respond differently to geopolitical tensions in the context of conspiracy beliefs.

Anything but Representative Democracy: Explaining Conspiracy Believers’ Support for Direct Democracy and Technocracy

Conspiracy theories gained considerable attention during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although studies have extensively explored their (mostly) negative impacts on various political and social aspects, like participation, health-related behavior, and violence, their influence on support for democracy remains relatively unexplored. The few existing studies offer conflicting findings, prompting my focus to shift from assessing generic support for democracy to examining preferences for alternative decision-making models. To address some limitations of prior research on alternative models of decision-making, I combine a trade-off item with a ranking methodology: respondents were prompted to indicate their first and second preferences for different democratic and non-democratic models over representative democracy. The study is based on data from a representative survey in Germany (July/August 2022; N = 2,536). My findings confirm that the belief in conspiracy theories is positively associated with a preference for direct democratic decision-making. However, conspiracy believers also favor expert-based decision-making over elected politicians—but direct democracy would be their primary choice. Although the evidence for a preference for autocracy over representative democracy is associated with a higher degree of uncertainty, it does suggest that conspiracy believers tend to favor “anything but” representative democracy. These findings contribute to the broader discourse on the impact of conspiracy beliefs on democratic systems.

Assessing inoculation's effectiveness in motivating resistance to conspiracy propaganda in Finnish and United States samples.

This study tested the motivational power of inoculation to foster resistance to conspiracy propaganda (9/11 Truth Movement), comparing inoculation effects across United States and Finnish study participants. We used a 2 inoculation (treatment vs. control) × 2 national culture (American vs. Finnish) independent groups design (N = 319), while examining the effects of motivational threat and thinking modes-analytic vs. intuitive-on the inoculation process. To test the effectiveness of the inoculation strategy, we used an excerpt from a conspiracy film Loose Change as a counterattitudinal attack message. Our results indicated that inoculation was effective at motivating resistance regardless of national culture. Inoculation effects emerged mostly as a direct effect on resistance and two indirect effects wherein motivational threat mediated the relationship between inoculation and resistance as well as inoculation and analytic mode of message processing. Although we found that an increase in analytic mode of processing facilitated resistance and intuitive processing increased conspiracy-theory endorsement, the indirect effects between inoculation and resistance via message processing modes were not significant. Finally, the data revealed national culture differences in analytic mode and cultural-context differences mostly pertaining to the relationships between thinking styles, media literacy, and modes of thinking. These results offer important theoretical implications for inoculation scholarship and suggest viable practical solutions for efforts to mitigate misinformation and conspiratorial beliefs.

Populist Attitudes, Conspiracy Beliefs and the Justification of Political Violence at the US 2020 Elections

The months around the US 2020 presidential election were characterized by polarization, populism, conspiracy theories, and violent acts, far exceeding usual out-party animosity in western democracies. Using an original two-wave panel survey fielded before the election in November 2020 (n = 3111) and after the inauguration in January 2021 (n = 3384), supported with data from the American National Election Study (ANES, n = 3080), we investigate the dynamics of political violence justification and its connection with populist attitudes and conspiracy beliefs. While we find that conspiracy beliefs are associated with higher justification of violence, the relationship with populist attitudes is mixed, and mostly depends on whether people believe in conspiracy theories or not—with populist attitudes being associated with greater political violence justification among those who believe conspiracy theories, while having no or even a negative correlation among those who do not. Finally, results from fixed-effects models provide some evidence for a temporal interpretation of the relationships, indicating that an increase in conspiracy beliefs is strongly and consistently associated with an increased willingness to justify violence.

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases

Objectives: This survey explores how patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases perceive the COVID-19 vaccine and what factors influence their decision to get vaccinated. Methods: This anonymous phone survey employs a cross-sectional design to gather data from adult Moroccan patients (over 18 years old) diagnosed with chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases (CIRD), including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), spondyloarthropathy, and undifferentiated CIRD. Results: A total of 321 participants responded to the questionnaire. The mean age of patients was 47.6±12 years and women represented 65.7% of the study population. The intention to vaccinate against Covid-19 was reported in 34.6% of the cases. Beliefs that Covid-19 vaccines were man-made, and that they are intended to inject microchips into recipients and that the vaccines were made to force people to get vaccinated were found in 22.7%, 3.2% and 8.7% of respondents, respectively. In univariate and multivariate analysis, the conspiracy beliefs that were associated with vaccination intention were the idea that Covid-19 vaccine was made to force people to get vaccinated (p&lt;0.001) and to reduce world’s population (p&lt;0.001). Conclusion: The study revealed a low vaccination intention against COVID-19 among Moroccan CIRD patients. This association between COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy theories and vaccine hesitancy highlights the need for targeted awareness campaigns to combat misinformation and improve vaccine acceptance within this population.

The Impact of Age and Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs on COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake among United States Adults.

This observational study examined the relationships between age, vaccine conspiracy beliefs, and COVID-19 vaccine uptake in emerging adults (ages 20-30) and middle-aged adults (ages 50-60) residing in the United States. It also examined sociodemographic predictors of vaccine conspiracy beliefs and COVID-19 vaccine uptake-political conservativism, household income, and educational attainment. We recruited 198 emerging adults and 198 middle-aged adults to complete an online survey assessing vaccine conspiracy beliefs and COVID-19 vaccination status. First, we found that emerging adults reported stronger vaccine conspiracy beliefs than middle-aged adults (estimated mean difference = 0.43, 95CI = 0.08, 0.79, p = 0.017), but that emerging adults and middle-aged adults did not differ in their likelihood of being vaccinated with estimated rates of COVID-19 vaccination uptake of 63% in emerging adults and 64% in middle-aged adults. Political conservativism was associated with stronger vaccine conspiracy beliefs and lower COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Lower household income and lower educational attainment were associated with lower COVID-19 vaccine uptake but not associated with vaccine conspiracy beliefs. Second, we found that age moderated the relationship between vaccine conspiracy beliefs and COVID-19 vaccine uptake; stronger vaccine conspiracy beliefs predicted lower COVID-19 vaccine uptake among middle-aged adults (B = -0.63, 95CI = -0.90, -0.36, p < 0.001) but were not associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake among emerging adults (B = -0.21, 95CI = -0.47, 0.05, p = 0.12). These results provide insight into the sociodemographic and psychological factors that influence COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Our findings can help to inform the design of targeted public health interventions to increase vaccine uptake in the ongoing fight against COVID-19. Given the crucial role of vaccination in controlling the spread of COVID-19, it is also imperative for future studies to continue investigating how age and vaccine conspiratorial beliefs intersect to impact vaccine uptake.

Toward a Cultural Psychology of Conspiracy Theories: A life-narrative analysis of Flat Earthers.

While the idea of a flat earth may seem absurd in the twenty-first century, there is today a large and growing number of people who believe it. Who are these people and what animates their belief? In answering these questions, this article aims to articulate a cultural psychological approach to conspiracy theories. This is advanced through an in-depth narrative analysis of three individuals' life stories concerning before, during, and after the transition to the new belief. Thus, rather than starting from the typical look at what socio-demographic factors predict conspiracy beliefs, we start from a nuanced look at flat earth believers' own life worlds. We show how different individual motives (epistemological, social and existential) and knowledge systems (scientific, religious, societal) come together in individuals' adoption and reconstruction of conspiracy theories so that they resonate with believers' personal lives. Most importantly, flat earth theory offers people a comprehensive vision that places human beings at the center of the universe and provides arguments for how life is meaningful. However, we show that this is reached through different pathways in accordance with people's unique life histories and challenges.

Conspiracy blaming in the aftermath of group relative deprivation: The moderating role of national narcissism

AbstractConspiracy beliefs entail a scapegoating function by attributing the consequences of crises, such as economic downturns, to the secret action of outgroups. While conspiracy beliefs have been described as reactions to economic threats, we argue that this factor alone is not sufficient. Rather, perceiving one's ingroup as unfairly deprived compared to other groups (i.e., group relative deprivation) might be key to explaining the situation in terms of secret, intentional wrongdoings. Furthermore, individuals high in national narcissism (i.e., a perceived lack of recognition of the ingroup's greatness), may be especially sensitive to this dynamic. Three pilot studies (N = 1237) attested the robustness of the link between group relative deprivation and conspiracy beliefs. Then, Study 1 (N = 812) revealed that the effect of group relative deprivation on conspiracy beliefs was moderated by national narcissism. In Study 2 (N = 728), we found effects of induced national narcissism and group relative deprivation on conspiracy beliefs in a fictitious setting. Study 3 (N = 846) replicated the moderation of national narcissism on the link between group relative deprivation and conspiracy beliefs at the cross‐sectional level. Overall, these studies provide evidence that conspiracy beliefs in reaction to group relative deprivation are especially likely among collective narcissists. We discuss the scapegoating function of conspiracy beliefs during crises.

Thought contagion? Conspiracy beliefs boost paranoid thoughts.

Conspiracy theories accusing specific groups of secret malevolent actions can foster a perception of the world as a dangerous place. In our research, we contend that both adherence and exposure to conspiracy beliefs can serve as a potential cause of certain psychological problems in the form of paranoid thoughts. This hypothesis was tested in three studies conducted among Polish and British participants. In Study 1 (longitudinal, N = 603), we found that conspiracy beliefs exerted a positive overtime effect on paranoid thoughts. Experimental studies 2 (N = 384) and 3 (N = 445), showed that being exposed to conspiracy theories (vs. control stimuli) heightened paranoid thoughts. In Study 3, we proposed a potential mechanism explaining this effect, according to which exposure to conspiracies increased paranoid thoughts via only negative intense emotions. Our work adds to the discussion on the consequences of conspiracy beliefs and has implications for mental health research, underlining the importance of designing interventions limiting the adverse effects of conspiracy beliefs.

Procedural fairness during university education and students’ trust in science and scientists

ABSTRACT Procedural fairness encourages numerous beneficial organizational behaviors across many institutional settings, including schools. However, little research has explored the consequences of fair treatment in the higher education context. To address this gap, we conducted three studies exploring whether students’ experience of procedural (un)fairness during university education predicts their trust in scientists in particular and trust in science, generally. The participants were university students from Poland (N = 240), the UK (N = 500), and the US (N = 501) recruited through online panels. In all three studies, we administered a questionnaire about students’ experiences of treatment during university studies. We used regression analysis (Studies 1 and 2) and Structural Equation Modelling (Study 3) for data analysis. We found that students’ experience of procedural justice was positively correlated with their trust in science, and negatively linked with their belief in conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines. This effect was partially mediated by students’ trust in scientists in Study 2 and fully mediated in Study 3. In other words, interacting with fair academic teachers leads students to trust scientists initially and ultimately develop trust in science in general. The experience of fairness also reduces conspiracy beliefs, a finding especially salient in the light of the recent pandemic. Our research supports the understanding that trust is relational and interpersonal rather than an abstract and generalized attitude. We also contribute to the study of higher education by highlighting the significance of quality academic experience for shaping students’ broader attitudes.

The fear factor: examining the impact of fear on vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs

Objectives While anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs can reduce vaccine intentions, longitudinal research shows that vaccine hesitancy can increase conspiracy beliefs. In three experiments (N = 949), we examined the effect of fear about a vaccine on vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs. Method and Measures In Studies 1a (N = 221) and 1b (N = 508), participants were exposed to high fear (vs low fear) about a (fictional) vaccine before reporting vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs. In Study 2, all participants were exposed to high fear before being asked to think about not getting vaccinated (vs vaccinated) against the (fictional) disease. Participants then reported their vaccine hesitancy, anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs, and closeness to others who distrust official narratives. Results In Studies 1a and 1b, exposure to high fear (vs low fear) increased vaccine hesitancy, which was positively correlated with anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs. The reverse model’s effect was either smaller (Study 1a) or non-significant (Study 1b). In Study 2, fear and not wanting to vaccinate resulted in vaccine hesitancy, which then predicted anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs and feeling closer to those distrusting official narratives. Conclusion Therefore, fear creates a response not to get vaccinated. A conspiracy belief may then justify this response.