2020
DOI: 10.1037/pspa0000183
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Abstract: Belief in conspiracy theories about Jews is a prototypical example of how a naïve theory can serve as a universal explanation of "all the bad things happening in society." Such a theory often arises in times of political unrest that tend to breed feelings of uncertainty in politics and a lack of control over politics. As both uncertainty (a sense-making deficit) and lack of control (an agency deficit) can relate to conspiracy-based antisemitism, this research examines which of the two processes plays a pivotal… Show more

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Cited by 105 publications
(106 citation statements)
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“…These conspiracy theories can have harmful consequences. For example, belief in conspiracy theories has been linked to vaccine hesitancy 107 , climate denial 108 , extremist political views 109 and prejudice 110,111 . COVID-19 conspiracy theories may be similarly problematic.…”
Section: Conspiracy Theoriesmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…These conspiracy theories can have harmful consequences. For example, belief in conspiracy theories has been linked to vaccine hesitancy 107 , climate denial 108 , extremist political views 109 and prejudice 110,111 . COVID-19 conspiracy theories may be similarly problematic.…”
Section: Conspiracy Theoriesmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The two-component, socio-epistemic model of BCT further hypothesizes that uncertainty and loss of control should be understood in relation to loss of trust in the institutions that are expected to keep people safe. This dynamic may have particular relevance to intergroup conspiracies that have been linked to both a need for control and a need to blame others (Chayinska & Minescu, 2018;Imhoff & Bruder, 2014;Kofta, Soral, & Bilewicz, 2020). Swami (2012, p. 7) found that within a Malaysian sample, belief in a conspiracy theory about Jews was not so much related to belief in other conspiracy theories or general conspiracist ideation as it was to "ideological needs"…”
Section: Societal Threat Intergroup Conspiracies and Racismmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Instead, it appears that "system identity threats" -fears that an ingroup society is coming undone -can increase BCT about the malevolent intentions of minority ingroup members through a self-protective mechanism (Jolley, Douglas, & Sutton, 2018). Such dynamics have been used to argue that intergroup conspiracy theories play a scapegoating role in the service of maintaining a sense of control, displacing epistemic mistrust in the face of political upheaval to a minority group falsely imbued with omnipotence and nefarious intentions (Federico, Williams, & Vitriol, 2018;Imhoff & Bruder, 2014;Jolley, Douglas, & Sutton, 2018;Kofta, Soral, & Bilewicz, 2020). In this fashion, epistemic mistrust is often redirected at pre-existing targets of interpersonal and cultural mistrust in the service of protecting narcissistic needs.…”
Section: Societal Threat Intergroup Conspiracies and Racismmentioning
confidence: 99%
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“…Suddenly, for millions, the future appeared to be uncertain and threatening, calling into question the ability of people to exercise personal control over their lives (of course, other people -younger, more daring, better educated, coming from bigger cities, etc.capitalized on this situation, frequently opening private businesses or going abroad to work in rich countries of the West). We know from the general psychological literature that both psychological threat and lack of control are potent psychological forces promoting not only political conservatism (e.g., Thórisdóttir & Jost, 2011), but also fostering conspiracy interpretations of social reality (e.g., Kofta, Soral, & Bilewicz, 2020). Thus, the disappointment of millions of Poles with harsh economic reforms introduced immediately by the Solidarity-backed government in 1989, and continued later on, might have been one of the most important reasons for the development of the black legend of the '89 Round Table as a great conspiracy.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%