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How paranoid are conspiracy believers? Toward a more fine-grained understanding of the connect and disconnect between paranoia and belief in conspiracy theories
Abstract
Public discourse and scholarly literature often make a strong connection between paranoid thought and belief in conspiracy theories. We report one meta‐analysis and two correlational studies across two distinct cultural contexts (total N = 578) to provide an estimate for their association but also evidence for their distinctiveness via a multi‐trait‐multi‐method approach. Whereas the meta‐analysis (k = 11 studies) provided support for a reliable association between paranoia and conspiracy beliefs, the two additional studies provide direct evidence for their distinctiveness and divergent associations with other constructs. Although both assume sinister intentions of others, beliefs in conspiracy theories are more specific in who these others are (powerful groups) than paranoia (everyone). In contrast, paranoia was more restricted in terms of who the target of the negative intentions is (the self) than conspiracy theorizing (society as a whole). In light of this and distinct associations of conspiracy beliefs with political control and trust but not (inter‐)personal control and trust (like paranoia), we propose to treat the two as distinct (albeit correlated) constructs with conspiracy beliefs reflecting a political attitude compared to paranoia as a self‐relevant belief.
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From The dark side of social movements: social identity, non-conformity, and the lure of conspiracy theories (2020) · cites this paper as [36]
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“studies found that stronger uniqueness needs were linked to stronger conspiracy theory beliefs [31,32,36].”
From The dark side of social movements: social identity, non-conformity, and the lure of conspiracy theories (2020) · cites this paper as [36]
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Understanding Conspiracy Theories
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“Jolley and Douglas (2014b) found that participants who were exposed to antigovernment conspiracy theories— compared to those who were presented with refuting information— showed less intention to vote in the next election.”
BackgroundInfluentialImhoff, R., & Lamberty, P. (2020) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/1948550620934692 · Cited by 722
“…content-wise even completely unrelated conspiracy beliefs are so highly intercorrelated that they typically load on one factor (Bruder et al., 2013; Swami et al., 2011) and are thus often understood as specific expressions of a generalized mindset or political attitude (Imhoff & Lamberty, 2018).”
BackgroundSelf-citationPylons ablaze: Examining the role of 5G COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefs and support for violence
Jolley, D., & Paterson, J. (2020) · British Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjso.12394 · Cited by 337
“…but closely correlated construct of conspiracy beliefs, paranoia refers to the belief that awide range of external agents harbours hostile intent towards them personally – as opposed to the conspiratorial belief that powerful organizations are harming society at large (Imhoff & Lamberty, 2018).”
BackgroundBelief in conspiracy theories: Basic principles of an emerging research domain
van Prooijen, J., & Douglas, K. M. (2018) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.2530 · Cited by 483
“Moreover, these findings are not specific for health-related conspiracy theories: More general conspiracy beliefs predict a preference for alternative over regular, evidence-based medical approaches (Lamberty & Imhoff, 2018).”
BackgroundBertin, P., Nera, K., & Delouvée, S. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.565128 · Cited by 336
“Overall, there might be a negative relation between conspiracy beliefs and attitude toward scientific medicine, Lamberty and Imhoff (2018) have shown that conspiracy mentality was associated with a preference for alternative medicines over evidence based, biomedical treatments.”
BackgroundConspiracy mentality and political orientation across 26 countries
Imhoff, R., Zimmer, F., Klein, O., António, J. H. C., Babińska, M., Bangerter, A., Bilewicz, M., Blanuša, N., Bovan, K., Bužarovska, R., et al. (2022) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-021-01258-7 · Cited by 274
Self-citationConspiracy Theories and Their Societal Effects During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Pummerer, L., BOHM, R. M., Lilleholt, L., Winter, K., Zettler, I., & Sassenberg, K. (2021) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/19485506211000217 · Cited by 344
“Similar questions are part of the prepping behavior measure by Imhoff and Lamberty (2020), which contained items about the reliance on alternative remedies.”
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“This is in line with the portrayal of conspiracy mind-sets as inherently political attitudes, intrinsically tied to distrust in political institutions (but not common people), a lack of political (but not personal) control, and a motivation to become politically active (Imhoff & Lamberty, 2018).”
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Mistrust and misinformation: A two-component, socio-epistemic model of belief in conspiracy theories
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Self-citationWhy conspiracy theories matter: A social psychological analysis
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“However, others have discovered that conspiracy theories canmotivate people to become politically active (Imhoff & Bruder, 2014; Imhoff & Lamberty, 2018).”
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“Although there are many other variables related to conspiracy beliefs (e.g., thinking styles, Pytlik et al., 2020; paranoia, Imhoff & Lamberty, 2018; narcissism, Cichocka et al., 2016; or ideology, Nera et al., 2021), the focus of this research is on variables related to uncertainty and fear.”
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Who believes in conspiracy theories? A meta-analysis on personality correlates
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Self-citationThe Conspiracy Mentality Scale
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“This intergroup dimension distinguishes conspiracy beliefs fromparanoia,which is amore self-focused psychological state (Imhoff & Lamberty, 2018; Van Prooijen & Van Lange, 2014).”
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To what extent are conspiracy theorists concerned for self versus others? A COVID‐19 test case
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“People higher in conspiracy theorising are also more likely to report egocentric threat bias: the tendency to think that one is more susceptible to external threats than are other people (Imhoff & Lamberty, 2018).”
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Conspiracy beliefs and the individual, relational, and collective selves
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Does lack of control lead to conspiracy beliefs? A meta‐analysis
Stojanov, A., & Halberstadt, J. B. (2020) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.2690 · Cited by 96
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Belief in conspiracy theories and attitudes toward political violence
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Decoding the 15-Minute City Debate: Conspiracies, Backlash, and Dissent in Planning for Proximity
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“Conspiracy theories have fostered intergroup hostility and promoted feelings of anger (Imhoff & Lamberty, 2018).”
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Unpacking the relationship between religiosity and conspiracy beliefs in Australia
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Meuer, M., & Imhoff, R. (2020) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2020.104081 · Cited by 73
Self-citationWhy do narcissists find conspiracy theories so appealing?
Cichocka, A. K., Marchlewska, M., & Biddlestone, M. (2022) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101386 · Cited by 72
Online Conspiracy Groups: Micro-Bloggers, Bots, and Coronavirus Conspiracy Talk on Twitter
Greve, H. R., Rao, H., Vicinanza, P. J., & Zhou, E. Y. (2022) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/00031224221125937 · Cited by 74
“Conspiracy theories arise from emotions of fear and anger and a lack of con-trol (Whitson, Galinsky, and Kay 2015), and they are social because they entail intergroup beliefs that a powerful or hostile outgroup is conspiring against a perceiver’s ingroup (Imhoff and Lamberty 2018).”
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Conspiracy theories and their societal effects during the COVID-19 pandemic
Pummerer, L., Böhm, R., Lilleholt, L., Winter, K., Zettler, I., & Sassenberg, K. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/y5grn · Cited by 67
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“Trust is an important contributor to conspiracy theory beliefs (Imhoff & Lamberty, 2018; Meuer & Imhoff, 2021).”
BackgroundHow social identity shapes conspiratorial belief
Robertson, C. E., Pretus, C., Rathje, S., Harris, E. A., & Van Bavel, J. J. (2022) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101423 · Cited by 57
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“Excessive disbelief in conspiracy theories that are widely supported among one’s ingroup members could then be used to emphasize one’s own distinctiveness (cf. Imhoff & Lamberty, 2018; Lantian et al., 2018).”
Biddlestone, M., Green, R., Douglas, K. M., Azevedo, F., Sutton, R. M., & Cichocka, A. K. (2022) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/rxjqc · Cited by 55
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“All CTs share the common theme of an outgroup secretly plotting against oneself (Douglas et al., 2019) or rather humankind (Imhoff & Lamberty, 2018).”
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“measures (Hornsey, 2020; Hornsey et al., 2018a, 2020, 2021; Imhoff & Lamberty, 2020; Lamberty & Imhoff, 2018; Pummerer et al., 2022; see Douglas et al., 2017; Douglas & Sutton, 2018, for reviews).”
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Conspiracy beliefs as an adaptation to historical trauma
Bilewicz, M. (2022) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101359 · Cited by 50
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The role of cognitive biases in conspiracy beliefs: A literature review
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“A number of studies have reported negative traits correlated with conspiracy beliefs, such as the dark triad (e.g., Ahadzadeh et al., 2021), paranoia (e.g., Imhoff & Lamberty, 2018), or machiavellianism (Dou-glas & Sutton, 2011).”
Belief in conspiracy theories and non-normative behavior
Pummerer, L. (2022) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101394 · Cited by 46
Paranoia and conspiracy thinking
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The generic conspiracist beliefs scale – 5: A short-form measure of conspiracist ideation
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“Research suggests that beliefs in conspiracy theories (CT) have a negative influence on the health domain [32,34,35], including a harmful effect on vaccine uptake in general [36,37].”
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“We adopted a 7-point scale: strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), somewhat disagree (3), neutral (4), somewhat agree (5), agree (6), strongly agree (7).”
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“Also, the correlation may be due to conspiracy beliefs’ shared variance with paranoia (see for example Imhoff & Lamberty, [78]).”
BackgroundGroup-oriented motivations underlying conspiracy theories
van Prooijen, J. (2024) · Group Processes & Intergroup Relations · doi:10.1177/13684302241240696 · Cited by 35
“People may also believe that others conspire against them personally, but that is more commonly conceived of as paranoia (Imhoff & Lamberty, 2018; van Prooijen & van Lange, 2014).”
Paranoia and conspiracy: group cohesion increases harmful intent attribution in the Trust Game
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“This is important, even more so if one takes into consideration that attempts to influence people who believe in conspiracy ideas, based on communication coming from authorities, have failed (Lamberty and Imhoff, 2018).”
BackgroundDon't trust anybody: Conspiracy mentality and the detection of facial trustworthiness cues
Frenken, M., & Imhoff, R. (2022) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.3955 · Cited by 33
Self-citationAlsuhibani, A., Shevlin, M. E., Freeman, D. H., Sheaves, B., & Bentall, R. P. (2022) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0259053 · Cited by 32
“Replicating Study 1 and previous studies [3], paranoia and belief in conspiracy theories, although correlated, were best modelled as two separate constructs.”
BackgroundResultInfluentialPolitical conspiracy theories as tools for mobilization and signaling
Marie, A., & Petersen, M. B. (2022) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101440 · Cited by 43
Is it pathological to believe conspiracy theories?
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“…and although there are relevant environmental factors affecting both phenomena, para-noia seem to be closely related to personality characteristics such as neuroticism and introversion, whereas conspiracy theories are commonly associated with low trust in authorities (Imhoff & Lamberty, 2018).”
Young, L. E., Sidnam-Mauch, E., Twyman, M. D., Wang, L., Xu, J. J., Sargent, M. J., Valente, T. W., Ferrara, E., Fulk, J. L., & Monge, P. R. (2021) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2020.306063 · Cited by 28
Conspiracy Theories Through a Cross-Cultural Lens
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Self-citationHow believing in brand conspiracies shapes relationships with brands
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Who falls for fake news? Psychological and clinical profiling evidence of fake news consumers
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Self‐Worth and Politics: The Distinctive Roles of Self‐Esteem and Narcissism
Cichocka, A. K., Marchlewska, M., & Cisłak, A. (2023) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.12897 · Cited by 35
Martínez, A. P., Shevlin, M. E., Valiente, C., Hyland, P., & Bentall, R. P. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1023366 · Cited by 31
“This distinction between interpersonal and institutional mistrust is in line with the view that paranoia reflects a threat to the “self ” whereas, in the case of conspiracy mentality, the threat is orientated to society more generally (Imhoff and Lamberty, 2018; Van Prooijen et al., 2021).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialBrauner, F., Fonagy, P., Campbell, C., Griem, J., Storck, T., & Nolte, T. (2023) · Research in Psychotherapy Psychopathology Process and Outcome · doi:10.4081/ripppo.2023.705 · Cited by 26
“…of knowledge by socially powerful authorities, they are also more credulous in response to the communicated transmission by powerless sources (Imhoff et al ., 2018). l s e This may indicate that the endorsement of a conspiracy mentality is associated with disrupted ET capacities, expressed…”
BackgroundDoes Belief in Conspiracy Theories Affect Interpersonal Relationships?
Toribio‐Flórez, D., Green, R., Sutton, R. M., & Douglas, K. M. (2023) · The Spanish Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1017/sjp.2023.8 · Cited by 24
“Although conspiracy beliefs positively correlatewith some clinical traits (e.g., paranoia, schizotypy; Darwin et al., 2011), they are clearly distinct phenomena (Alsuhibani et al., 2022; Imhoff & Lamberty, 2018).”
BackgroundLeveaux, S., Nera, K., Fagnoni, P., & Klein, P. (2022) · Journal of Social and Political Psychology · doi:10.5964/jspp.6201 · Cited by 22
Engaging with conspiracy theories: Causes and consequences
Sassenberg, K., Bertin, P., Douglas, K. M., & Hornsey, M. J. (2022) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104425 · Cited by 20
Iatrogenic effects of Reboot/NoFap on public health: A preregistered survey study
Prause, N., & Binnie, J. (2023) · Sexualities · doi:10.1177/13634607231157070 · Cited by 19
“This measure was distinct from paranoia (Imhoff and Lamberty, 2018).”
Pummerer, L., Ditrich, L., Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (2022) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/19485506221144150 · Cited by 19
“This distrust is especially pronounced regarding the powerful, such as the government or politicians (Imhoff & Bruder, 2014; Imhoff et al., 2018; Imhoff & Lamberty, 2018).”
Nera, K., Mora, Y. L., Klein, P., Roblain, A., Oost, P. V., Terache, J., & Klein, O. (2022) · Psychologica Belgica · doi:10.5334/pb.1086 · Cited by 14
Do conspiracy theorists think too much or too little?
Brashier, N. M. (2022) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101504 · Cited by 19
Conspiracy believers claim to be free thinkers but (Under)Use advice like everyone else.
Altay, S., Nera, K., Ejaz, W., Schöpfer, C., & Tomas, F. (2023) · British Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjso.12655 · Cited by 13
Sternisko, A., Cichocka, A. K., & Bavel, J. J. V. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/wvqes · Cited by 18
“Unsurprisingly, studies found that stronger uniqueness needs were linked to stronger conspiracy theory beliefs [31,32,36].”
Backgroundvan Prooijen, J., Etienne, T. W., Kutiyski, Y., & Krouwel, A. P. M. (2021) · Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1177/13591053211051816 · Cited by 19
“Specifically, conspiracy thinking is associated with a more generally suspicious outlook on the world (e.g. Darwin et al., 2011; Imhoff and Lamberty, 2018).”
BackgroundPredicting COVID-19 conspiracist ideation from the Dark Tetrad traitsPreprint
Kay, C. S. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/j3m2y · Cited by 17
Conspiracy theories explained by a cheating detection mechanism
Aubert-Teillaud, B., & Vaidis, D. C. (2023) · Social & Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/spc3.12876 · Cited by 3
Trust or distrust? Neither! The right mindset for confronting disinformation
Mayo, R. (2023) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101779 · Cited by 22
The Plot Thickens: A Sociology of Conspiracy Theories
Rao, H., & Greve, H. R. (2024) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-030222-031142 · Cited by 20
The Effectiveness of Interventions Addressing Conspiracy Beliefs: A Meta‐Analysis
Stasielowicz, L. (2025) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.70041 · Cited by 16
Varella, M. A. C., Luoto, S., Soares, R. B. D. S., & Valentová, J. V. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.646711 · Cited by 16
“Paranoia and belief in conspiracy are indeed positively correlated (Imhoff and Lamberty, 2018).”
Background“Remember that we suffered!” The effects of historical trauma on anti‐Semitic prejudice
Skrodzka, M., Kende, A., Faragó, L., & Bilewicz, M. (2022) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/jasp.12862 · Cited by 16
COVID-19 and 5G conspiracy theories: long term observation of a digital wildfire
Langguth, J., Filkuková, P., Brenner, S., Schroeder, D. T., & Pogorelov, K. (2022) · International Journal of Data Science and Analytics · doi:10.1007/s41060-022-00322-3 · Cited by 17
“The psychological literature has investigated the connection between paranoid thought and belief in conspiracy theories, but recent work highlighted differences between the two constructs [40].”
Background[Conspiracy narratives in the context of the coronavirus pandemic].
Lamberty, P., & Imhoff, R. (2021) · PubMed Central · doi:10.1007/s00278-021-00498-2 · Cited by 4
Self-citationIntroducing conspiracy intuitions to better understand conspiracy beliefs.
Roberts, R., & Risen, J. L. (2022) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101395 · Cited by 15
Paranoia: From Passive Social-Threat Perception to Misattunement in Social Interaction
Hajdúk, M., Sasson, N. J., Park, S., & Pinkham, A. E. (2024) · Clinical Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/21677026231218639 · Cited by 16
“As a contemporaneous example, paranoia is often associated with conspiracy thinking (Imhoff & Lamberty, 2018), and in the current culture, individuals coalesce around conspiratorial beliefs, such as misinformation about the harmfulness of vaccines.”
Kim, S., Stavrova, O., & Vohs, K. D. (2022) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104396 · Cited by 13
“In this context, conspiracy beliefs can valorize the ingroup by attributing negative outcomes to outgroups (Imhoff et al., 2018; Imhoff & Bruder, 2014).”
Lamberty, P. (2022) · Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz · doi:10.1007/s00103-022-03524-z · Cited by 12
“Es scheint so zu sein, dass der politischebzw.gesellschaftlicheKontrollverlust (bspw. im Rahmen von Terror, Krankheitsausbrüchen, gesellschaftlichen Umbrüchen) relevanter für einen verstärkten Verschwörungsglauben ist als ein Kontrollverlust, der das private Umfeld betrifft (bspw. durch Arbeitsplatzverlust, Krankheit;…”
Self-citationTerrorismus aus psychiatrischer Sicht
Seidenbecher, S., Steinmetz, C., Möller-leimkühler, A. M., & Bogerts, B. (2020) · Der Nervenarzt · doi:10.1007/s00115-020-00894-0 · Cited by 12
Engaging with Conspiracy Believers
Douglas, K. M., Sutton, R. M., Biddlestone, M., Green, R., & Toribio‐Flórez, D. (2024) · Review of Philosophy and Psychology · doi:10.1007/s13164-024-00741-0 · Cited by 14
Stojanov, A., Bering, J. M., & Halberstadt, J. B. (2021) · Psihologija · doi:10.2298/psi201115009s · Cited by 12
Loziak, A., & Havrillová, D. (2024) · Europe's Journal of Psychology · doi:10.5964/ejop.10049 · Cited by 10
“Mistrust of science, as a system of knowledge, often implies the suspicion of and lack of confidence in the independence of researchers and the scientific systems from large corporations (e.g. often pharmaceutical companies) as well as governments (Lamberty & Imhoff, 2018; Mari et al., 2022).”
BackgroundFactors affecting conspiracy theory endorsement in paranoia
Greenburgh, A., Liefgreen, A., Bell, V., & Raihani, N. (2022) · Royal Society Open Science · doi:10.1098/rsos.211555 · Cited by 9
“38, [4]), conspiracy thinking does not necessarily stem from an underlying paranoid disposition.”
BackgroundInfluential
Metadata
- Authors
- Imhoff, R., & Lamberty, P.
- Affiliations
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Imhoff, Roland
- Venue
- European Journal of Social Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2018-05-30
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 909-926
- ISSN
- 0046-2772 (ISSN-L)
- 1099-0992
- OpenAlex
- W2799716520
- Semantic Scholar
- 47550a1d8d5b54bb390d03c1b1d299c52887c2b9
- Cited by
- 267
- References
- 70
- Citations by year
- 2026: 39 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 58 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 43.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- European Journal of Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Misinformation and Its Impacts
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
- Keywords
- paranoia, conspiracy beliefs, conspiracy theories, paranoid thinking, political control, trust, interpersonal control, self-relevance, construct distinctiveness
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