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Why Education Predicts Decreased Belief in Conspiracy Theories
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Summary: People with high education are less likely than people with low education to believe in conspiracy theories. It is yet unclear why these effects occur, however, as education predicts a range of cognitive, emotional, and social outcomes. The present research sought to identify mediators of the relationship between education and conspiracy beliefs. Results of Study 1 revealed three independent mediators of this relationship, namely, belief in simple solutions for complex problems, feelings of powerlessness, and subjective social class. A nationally representative sample (Study 2) replicated these findings except for subjective social class. Moreover, variations in analytic thinking statistically accounted for the path through belief in simple solutions. I conclude that the relationship between education and conspiracy beliefs cannot be reduced to a single mechanism but is the result of the complex interplay of multiple psychological factors that are associated with education. © 2016 The Authors. Applied Cognitive Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- van Prooijen, J.
- Venue
- Applied Cognitive Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2016-11-28
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 50-58
- ISSN
- 0888-4080 (ISSN-L)
- 1099-0720
- OpenAlex
- W2557592378
- Cited by
- 517
- References
- 46
- FWCI
- 71.46
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
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