Unanswered questions: a preliminary investigation of personality and individual difference predictors of 9/11 conspiracist beliefs
Abstract
Abstract Given the widespread appeal of conspiratorial beliefs, it is surprising that very little empirical research has examined the psychological variables associated with such beliefs. In the present study, we examined individual and demographic predictors of beliefs in conspiracy theories concerning the September 11, 2001 (9/11) attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon among a representative British sample of 254 women and men. Results of structural equation modelling showed that 9/11 conspiracist beliefs were positively associated with belief in other conspiracy theories, exposure to 9/11 conspiracist ideas, political cynicism, defiance of authority and the Big Five personality factor of Agreeableness. In total, a model including demographics, personality and individual difference variables explained over 50% of the variance in 9/11 conspiracist ideas. The implications of these findings for the literature on conspiracy theories are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Conspiracy theory beliefs are linked to political alienation and cynicism.
“Conspiracy theory beliefs are linked to political alienation and cynicism [10-12]”
From The dark side of social movements: social identity, non-conformity, and the lure of conspiracy theories (2020) · cites this paper as [10]
By challenging official narratives, conspiracy theories can undermine people's trust in broader societal structures, leading to alienation and anomie, which is linked to non-normative political activism.
“by challenging official narratives conspiracy theories can actually undermine people's trust in broader societal structures [cf.56] leading to alienation and anomie [10-12, 57, 58] which in turn is linked to non-normative political activism [17**,18].”
From The dark side of social movements: social identity, non-conformity, and the lure of conspiracy theories (2020) · cites this paper as [10]
People who endorse one conspiracy are likely to also endorse multiple others.
“People who endorse one conspiracy are known to be likely to also endorse multiple others”
From The Role of Conspiracist Ideation and Worldviews in Predicting Rejection of Science (2013) · cites this paper as [45]
Conspiracist ideation has been found to be associated with stable personality variables, such as a subset of the Big Five or paranoid ideation and schizotypy.
“conspiracist ideation has been found to be associated with stable personality variables, such as a subset of the ‘Big Five’ [45] or paranoid ideation and schizotypy [47]”
From The Role of Conspiracist Ideation and Worldviews in Predicting Rejection of Science (2013) · cites this paper as [45]
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The Effects of Anti-Vaccine Conspiracy Theories on Vaccination Intentions
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“In Study 1, therefore, we replicated and extended the study by Swami et al. (2010) by examining individual difference correlates of the July 7, 2005, London bombings among a British sample.”
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“…2013), between paranormal belief and pseudoscientific claims (Eder et al., 2011; Lindeman, 2011), and between conspiracy and paranormal beliefs (Swami et al., 2010, 2011), the study presented here is the first one to present results indicating a positive correlation between believing in…”
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“…belief in one conspiracy theory is highly correlated with the belief in other— sometimes even contradictory—conspiracy theories (Bruder et al., 2013; Swami et al., 2010; Wood et al., 2012), one might assume that the China-related conspiracy theory should assert the same effects as PCC, but…”
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“This measure is a 15-item self-report measure developed by Swami et al., (2010); Swami et al. (2011).”
Conspiracy Theories and the People Who Believe Them
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“…theories reflects a systematic method of information processing, leading to a general worldview that accounts for threatening events as being the intended consequence of evil conspiracies (Abalakina-Paap, Stephan, Craig, & Gregory, 1999; Darwin, Neave, & Holmes, 2011; Swami et al., 2010).”
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“…have been concerned with individual differences in conspiracy beliefs (e.g., Crocker et al., 1999; Goertzel, 1994; Leman & Cinnirella, 2005; Parsons et al., 1999; Swami et al., 2010; Whitson & Galinsky, 2008) and indeed there is a growing psychological ‘profile’ of the typical conspiracy theorist.”
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“Second, we used Dekker and Meijerink (38)’s scale of political cynicism, which is a major political predictor of conspiracy beliefs (39).”
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“Participants completed the Belief in Conspiracy Theories Inventory (BCTI; Swami et al., 2010, 2011), a 15-item measure describing a range of conspiracy theories (sample item: “The Apollo moon landings never happened and were staged in a Hollywood film studio”).”
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“Conspiracy theories persist within the general population (Goertzel, 1994), are frequently endorsed, and may influence perceptions of significant contemporary (e.g., transmission of ebola) and historical real world events (e.g., moon landings; Swami et al., 2010).”
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“…in official institutions and related constructs such as political cynicism are the most promising candidates (see e.g., Brotherton et al., 2013; Swami et al., 2010, 2011); there is already evidence that such constructs could be important for COVID-19 related conspiracy theories (Pavela Banai…”
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Changing Conspiracy Beliefs through Rationality and Ridiculing
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“A number of such scales have been developed (see Table 1 ), including the Belief in Specific Conspiracies Scale [3] , the Conspiracy Theory Belief Scale [4] , the Composite Conspiracy Beliefs Scales [5] , and the Belief in Conspiracy Theories Inventory [6] .”
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“The present study addressed a number of longstanding questions about factors sustaining conspiracy beliefs (Swami et al., 2009).”
BackgroundBelief in conspiracy theories and intentions to engage in everyday crime
Jolley, D., Douglas, K. M., Leite, A. C., & Schrader, T. (2019) · British Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjso.12311 · Cited by 186 · see citing works
Climate Change Conspiracy Theories
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“I Know Things They Don’t Know!”: The Role of Need for Uniqueness in Belief in Conspiracy Theories
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“…Swami et al., 2011), distrust (Abalakina-Paap, Stephan, Craig, & Gregory, 1999; Goertzel, 1994; Wagner-Egger & Bangerter, 2007), low agreeability (Swami et al., 2010, 2011), narcissism (Cichocka, Marchlewska, & Golec de Zavala, 2016) and Machiavellianism (Douglas & Sutton, 2011) are associated…”
BackgroundMethodMistrust and misinformation: A two-component, socio-epistemic model of belief in conspiracy theories
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Beyond “Monologicality”? Exploring Conspiracist Worldviews
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“The idea that CT belief indicates closed mindedness is contradicted by its correlating with openness to experience (Swami et al., 2010).”
BackgroundResultAssociations between schizotypy and belief in conspiracist ideation
Barron, D. S., Morgan, K., Towell, T., Altemeyer, B., & Swami, V. (2014) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2014.06.040 · Cited by 124 · see citing works
Self-citationIndividual difference factors and beliefs in medical and political conspiracy theories
Galliford, N., & Furnham, A. F. (2017) · Scandinavian Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/sjop.12382 · Cited by 163 · see citing works
Self-citationSwami, V., Pietschnig, J., Tran, U. S., Nader, I. W., Stieger, S., & Voracek, M. (2012) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.2873 · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Self-citationWhy conspiracy theories matter: A social psychological analysis
Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2018) · European Review of Social Psychology · doi:10.1080/10463283.2018.1537428 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Marinthe, G., Brown, G., Delouvée, S., & Jolley, D. (2020) · British Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjhp.12449 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
“Conspiracy theories develop around significant events, such as the death of Princess Diana, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, or the Zika virus (Douglas & Sutton, 2008; Klofstad et al., 2019; Swami et al., 2010; Wood, 2018).”
BackgroundLiekefett, L., Christ, O., & Becker, J. C. (2023) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672211060965 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
“This effect emerged for both short- and long-term distances, and indicates that conspiracy beliefs are part of a selfreinforcing cycle that results in more and more extreme attitudes (Goertzel, 1994; Swami et al., 2010; Wood et al., 2012).”
BackgroundResultMoulding, R., Nix-Carnell, S., Schnabel, A., Nedeljkovic, M., Burnside, E. E., Lentini, A., & Mehzabin, N. (2016) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2016.04.060 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
van Prooijen, J., & van Dijk, E. (2014) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2014.06.006 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
“First, although conspiracy beliefs essentially is an intergroup phenomenon that is characterized by a powerful outgroup that is perceived to threaten one's ingroup (Kramer & Messick, 1998; Van Prooijen & Van Lange, 2014), people frequently believe in conspiracy theories about events that happen elsewhere in the world,…”
BackgroundInfluentialMarch, E., & Springer, J. (2019) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0225964 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
“, GCB-scale) and specific (Belief in Conspiracy Theories Inventory; BCTI [5]) beliefs in conspiracy theories.”
BackgroundInfluentialExamining the monological nature of conspiracy theories
Sutton, R. M., & Douglas, K. M. (2014) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139565417.018 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Bored to fears: Boredom proneness, paranoia, and conspiracy theories
Brotherton, R., & Eser, S. (2015) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2015.02.011 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
“…between conspiracism and traits related to paranoia, including mistrust, pessimism , hostility, cynicism, defiance of authority, impulsive nonconformity, and low agreeableness (Abalakina-Paap et al., 1999; Goertzel, 1994; Imhoff & Bruder, 2013; Parsons et al., 1999; Swami et al., 2011, 2013, 2010).”
Krouwel, A., Kutiyski, Y., van Prooijen, J.-W., Martinsson, J., & Markstedt, E. (2017) · Journal of Social and Political Psychology · doi:10.5964/jspp.v5i2.745 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Political paranoia and conspiracy theories
Swami, V., & Furnham, A. F. (2014) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139565417.016 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
“Several studies have also specifically examined the associations between conspiracist ideation and the Big Five personality variables (Swami et al., 2010, 2011).”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationSuspicion in the workplace: Organizational conspiracy theories and work‐related outcomes
Douglas, K. M., & Leite, A. C. (2017) · British Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjop.12212 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Organizational Conspiracy Beliefs: Implications for Leadership Styles and Employee Outcomes
van Prooijen, J., & de Vries, R. E. (2015) · Journal of Business and Psychology · doi:10.1007/s10869-015-9428-3 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Mahl, D., Schäfer, M. S., & Zeng, J. (2022) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/14614448221075759 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
“Socio-psychological and political approaches, by contrast, have focused on individuals, aiming to identify factors that drive people to adopt conspiratorial beliefs (e.g. Swami et al., 2010; Wood and Douglas, 2013).”
BackgroundBelieving in Conspiracy Theories: Evidence from an Exploratory Analysis of Italian Survey Data
Mancosu, M., Vassallo, S., & Vezzoni, C. (2017) · South European Society & Politics · doi:10.1080/13608746.2017.1359894 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
Anxious attachment and belief in conspiracy theories
Green, R., & Douglas, K. M. (2018) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2017.12.023 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Wood, M. (2017) · British Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjop.12231 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
The efficacy of interventions in reducing belief in conspiracy theories: A systematic review
O'Mahony, C., Brassil, M., Murphy, G., & Linehan, C. (2023) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0280902 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
“Specific measures assess the extent in which people endorse specific conspiracy theories, such as conspiracy theory suggesting that the September 11 attacks were orchestrated by the US government [48].”
BackgroundIntention Seekers: Conspiracist Ideation and Biased Attributions of Intentionality
Brotherton, R., & French, C. C. (2015) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0124125 · Cited by 124 · see citing works
Kim, S., & Kim, S. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18010266 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
“[17] show that beliefs in conspiracies about 9/11 are positively related to political cynicism.”
BackgroundInfluentialWho believes in conspiracy theories? A meta-analysis on personality correlates
Stasielowicz, L. (2022) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2022.104229 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Akther, T., & Nur, T. (2022) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0261869 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
“Commonly accepted conspiracy theories contend that climate change is a hoax [30]; NASA faked the moon landings [31]; the US government orchestrated the 9/11 terrorist attacks [32]; and vaccinations are harmful, but this fact is concealed to maintain profits [33].”
BackgroundSome Dare Call It Conspiracy: Labeling Something a Conspiracy Theory Does Not Reduce Belief in It
Wood, M. J. (2015) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.12285 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Swami, V., Weis, L., Lay, A., Barron, D. S., & Furnham, A. (2016) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2015.12.027 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
“This finding also sheds light on the positive relationship between the Big Five facet of Openness to Experience and belief in conspiracy theories that has been reported in several studies (Swami et al., 2010, 2011), but not others (Swami & Furnham, 2012).”
Self-citationvan Prooijen, J. (2016) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.2157 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Stripping the Political Cynic: A Psychological Exploration of the Concept of Political Cynicism
Pattyn, S., Hiel, A. V., Dhont, K., & Onraet, E. (2011) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.858 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
The social dimension of belief in conspiracy theories
van Prooijen, J., & Lange, P. A. M. V. (2014) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139565417.017 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
The relationship between schizotypal facets and conspiracist beliefs via cognitive processes.
Barron, D. S., Furnham, A., Weis, L., Morgan, K., Towell, T., & Swami, V. (2018) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2017.10.001 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
“The Belief in Conspiracy Theories Inventory (BCTI; Swami et al., 2010, 2011) was used to measure conspiracist beliefs.”
Self-citationKlein, C., Clutton, P., & Dunn, A. (2019) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0225098 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
“A general role for distrust of and defiance towards authority has also been posited [24].”
BackgroundDyrendal, A., Kennair, L. E., & Bendixen, M. (2021) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2021.110645 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Online communication as a window to conspiracist worldviews
Wood, M. J., & Douglas, K. M. (2015) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00836 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
“A great deal of research into interpersonal trust indicates that low trust is associated with beliefs in conspiracy theories (Hamsher et al., 1968; Wright and Arbuthnot, 1974; Goertzel, 1994; Yelland and Stone, 1996; Abalakina-Paap et al., 1999; Leman and Cinnirella, 2013).”
BackgroundInfluentialThe Conspiracy Mentality Scale
Stojanov, A., & Halberstadt, J. (2019) · Social Psychology · doi:10.1027/1864-9335/a000381 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Technologically scaffolded atypical cognition: the case of YouTube’s recommender system
Alfano, M., Fard, A. E., Carter, J. A., Clutton, P., & Klein, C. (2020) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-020-02724-x · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Maertens, R., Götz, F. M., Golino, H. F., Roozenbeek, J., Schneider, C. R., Kyrychenko, Y., Kerr, J. R., Stieger, S., McClanahan, W. P., III, Drabot, K., et al. (2023) · Behavior Research Methods · doi:10.3758/s13428-023-02124-2 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Conspiracy Thinking in Europe and America: A Comparative Study
Walter, A., & Drochon, H. (2020) · Political Studies · doi:10.1177/0032321720972616 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
“Conspiracy thinking has been found to be associated with supernatural beliefs such as religious beliefs (e.g. Galliford and Furnham, 2017; Jasinskaja-Lahti and Jetten, 2019; Mancosu et al., 2017; Oliver and Wood, 2014) and belief in the paranormal (e.g. Swami et al., 2011; Swami and Furnham, 2012), but there are excep…”
BackgroundInfluentialAnti-Vaccination Beliefs and Unrelated Conspiracy Theories
Goldberg, Z. J., & Richey, S. (2020) · World Affairs · doi:10.1177/0043820020920554 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
“By far the most consistent predictor of specific conspiracy beliefs has shown to be other conspiracy beliefs (Goertzel 1994; swami 2012; swami, chamorro-premuzic, and furnham 2010; swami et al.”
BackgroundSwami, V., Barron, D. S., Weis, L., & Furnham, A. F. (2017) · British Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjop.12252 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Self-citationEnders, A., Smallpage, S., & Lupton, R. N. (2018) · British Journal of Political Science · doi:10.1017/s0007123417000837 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Bowes, S. M., Costello, T. H., Ma, W., & Lilienfeld, S. O. (2021) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/jopy.12588 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Georgiou, N., Delfabbro, P., & Balzan, R. P. (2019) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2019.109521 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
How the growth of denialism undermines public health
McKee, M., & Diethelm, P. A. (2010) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.c6950 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
- Authors
- Swami, V., Chamorro‐Premuzic, T., & Furnham, A.
- Affiliations
- HELP University (MY)
- Goldsmiths University of London (GB)
- University College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Swami, Viren
- Venue
- Applied Cognitive Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-05-15
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 749-761
- ISSN
- 0888-4080 (ISSN-L)
- 1099-0720
- OpenAlex
- W2142313870
- Cited by
- 499
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 63 · 2022: 54 · 2021: 60 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 49 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 28 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 18.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Applied Cognitive Psychology (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Misinformation and Its Impacts
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- conspiracy theories, September 11 attacks, conspiracy beliefs, personality, individual differences, political cynicism, agreeableness, Big Five personality traits, demographic predictors
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