Evidence for a positive relationship between perceived stress and belief in conspiracy theories

Williams, Matt; Anderson, Rachel Carrie; Fox, Nick J.; Skinner, Chelsea M.; McMurtrie, Brandon

doi:10.31234/osf.io/gca56

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(27 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As stated in the hypothesis, a positive relationship between conspiracy beliefs and stress is expected to exist. However, while some studies (Constantinou et al 2021;Simione et al 2021;Swami et al 2016;Williams et al 2022) found a significant positive relationship, other studies (Ferreira et al 2022;Georgiou et al 2020) could not find a significant relationship. In the model estimated in this study, the effect of conspiracy beliefs on stress was found to be insignificant.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Finally, there is uncertainty about whether there is a relationship between stress and belief in conspiracy theories. While some studies (Constantinou et al 2021;Simione et al 2021;Swami et al 2016) found a positive and significant relationship, some studies (Ferreira et al 2022;Georgiou et al 2020) found no significant relationship (Williams et al 2022).…”

Section: Vaccine Hesitancy and Associated Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Turkey: Conspiracy Beliefs, Fear and Stress

Aydemir-Dev,

Barca,

Bayram-Arlı

et al. 2023

CJSSP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The aim of this study is to examine factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. An online survey was conducted to collect the data to be evaluated. The survey included demographic questions and four scales: vaccine hesitancy, fear of COVID-19, stress, and vaccine conspiracy beliefs. Four hundred and ninety-six people answered the survey in Turkey. A conceptual model was established and estimated with a structural equation model to explore the relationships. The findings identified a statistically significant direct effect on vaccine hesitancy of conspiracy beliefs, fear, and stress. Accordingly, it was concluded that individuals with a firm belief in vaccine conspiracies, high stress levels, and low fear of COVID-19 had high levels of vaccine hesitancy. This article suggests the importance of public access to accurate information and low stress levels.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Vaccine Hesitancy and Associated Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Turkey: Conspiracy Beliefs, Fear and Stress

Aydemir-Dev,

Barca,

Bayram-Arlı

et al. 2023

CJSSP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Do stress and anxiety lead to belief in conspiracy theories?

Fox,

Williams

2023

RoutledgeOpenRes

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Conspiracies happen, and some conspiracy theories are warranted by evidence. Nevertheless, a non-trivial proportion of the public express belief in conspiracy theories that are not warranted by evidence. Psychological research has therefore investigated the motives that might lead someone to believe a conspiracy theory even where the available evidence for the theory is weak. Two potential causes that have been proposed in the literature and embedded in theorising are psychological stress and anxiety. Prior studies have provided some evidence that stress and anxiety are positively correlated with belief in conspiracy theories, but it remains unclear whether this apparent effect might be accounted for by plausible confounding variables. Furthermore, there have been few preregistered examinations of the proposed effects of stress and anxiety, rendering it unclear to what degree this proposition has yet been subjected to a severe test. In two preregistered cross-sectional survey studies, we tested whether higher perceived stress and anxiety significantly predicted belief in conspiracy theories while controlling for plausible confounding variables (age, education, subjective social status, and political orientation). We analysed data using structural equation models, allowing measurement error to be explicitly modelled and accounted for. In Study 1 (N =502), a cross-sectional survey of Australasian participants indicated that perceived stress and anxiety did not have significant estimated effects on belief in conspiracy theories. In Study 2 (N =1020), a cross-sectional survey of US participants showed a small significant positive effect of perceived stress, but not anxiety, on belief in conspiracy theories. The present results provide very tentative evidence for an effect of perceived stress on belief in conspiracy theories. However, it is increasingly evident that this effect, if it exists at all, is not large.

show abstract

Evidence for a positive relationship between perceived stress and belief in conspiracy theories

Cited by 2 publications

References 19 publications

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Turkey: Conspiracy Beliefs, Fear and Stress

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Turkey: Conspiracy Beliefs, Fear and Stress

Do stress and anxiety lead to belief in conspiracy theories?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About