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Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations
Open accessAbstract
In the present contribution, we examine the link between societal crisis situations and belief in conspiracy theories. Contrary to common assumptions, belief in conspiracy theories has been prevalent throughout human history. We first illustrate historical incidents suggesting that societal crisis situations—defined as impactful and rapid societal change that calls established power structures, norms of conduct, or even the existence of specific people or groups into question—have stimulated belief in conspiracy theories. We then review the psychological literature to explain why this is the case. Evidence suggests that the aversive feelings that people experience when in crisis—fear, uncertainty, and the feeling of being out of control—stimulate a motivation to make sense of the situation, increasing the likelihood of perceiving conspiracies in social situations. We then explain that after being formed, conspiracy theories can become historical narratives that may spread through cultural transmission. We conclude that conspiracy theories originate particularly in crisis situations and may form the basis for how people subsequently remember and mentally represent a historical event.
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TL;DR
This integrative review argues that belief in conspiracy theories is not unique to the modern digital age or Western cultures, but has recurred throughout history especially during societal crisis situations. It proposes that crisis-induced fear, uncertainty, and lack of control motivate sense-making, and that conspiracy theories can then stabilize into historical narratives transmitted across generations.
Key findings
- Conspiracy theories have not increased over time in the reviewed data: Uscinski and Parent coded 104,803 letters to the New York Times and Chicago Tribune from 1890 to 2010, finding fluctuating but non-increasing conspiratorial content, with spikes shortly before 1900 and in the late 1940s/early 1950s.
- Societal crisis situations—defined as impactful and rapid societal change that calls power structures, norms, or the existence of specific people or groups into question—are proposed to stimulate conspiracy beliefs through fear, uncertainty, and feeling out of control, which increase sense-making motivation.
- Conspiracy theories can become cultural/historical narratives: Gallup polling cited shows JFK conspiracy belief was slightly more than 50% in the 3 years after the assassination, rose to 81% in 1975, stayed above 70% until 2003, peaked again at 81% in the early 2000s, and remains above 60% recently.
- Exposure to conspiracy theories is linked to increased powerlessness and maladaptive intentions, including withdrawal from politics, decreased willingness to reduce one’s carbon footprint, and decreased willingness to vaccinate a child.
Methods
- Design: integrative, theoretical review combining historical observations with psychological literature; no new empirical study is reported.
- Data/sample: historical examples (e.g., AD 64 Rome fire, Jewish conspiracy theories, Holocaust, 9/11, JFK assassination) and prior empirical studies, including Uscinski and Parent’s 104,803 letters, Andeweg’s EU trust/satisfaction data from 1974–2012 and 1997–2012, Gallup JFK polls, and correlational/experimental psychology studies.
- Analysis: narrative synthesis linking societal crisis, uncertainty and lack of control, sense-making, conspiracy belief, and cultural transmission into historical narratives.
Limitations
- Stated: providing an objective definition of “crisis” is difficult because labeling an event a crisis requires subjective judgment and its significance often can only be evaluated in retrospect.
- Stated: no research has yet studied cultural differences in conspiracy belief, so possible cultural differences are speculative; many findings are correlational and cannot establish whether uncertainty causes conspiracy beliefs or vice versa, though experimental work attempts causality.
- Evident from the text: as a narrative review, it does not report a systematic search or meta-analysis, and some claims are explicitly speculative, such as the psychological payoff of conspiracy theories and future trends in JFK conspiracy beliefs.
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Claims the paper makes
42 Own interpretation · 41 Not checked yet · 1 Own method
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We then explain that after being formed, conspiracy theories can become historical narratives that may spread through cultural transmission.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Abstract
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“Since people have a fundamental need to understand why events occurred, particularly in the case of negative or unexpected events (Brückmuller et al., this issue), crisis situations often elicit sense-making narratives among citizens that become part of their representations of history.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Introduction
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Brückmuller et al., this issue
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In the paper
“Evidence suggests that the aversive feelings that people experience when in crisis—fear, uncertainty, and the feeling of being out of control—stimulate a motivation to make sense of the situation, increasing the likelihood of perceiving conspiracies in social situations.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Abstract
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None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Jewish conspiracy theories—suggesting, for instance, that there is a Jewish plot to achieve world domination—still fuel anti-Semitism in various parts of the world, such as Malaysia (Swami, 2012), Turkey (Nefes, 2015), and Poland (Golec de Zavala and Cichocka, 2012).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Historical crises and conspiracy theories
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Swami, 2012
- Not checked yetcites Nefes, 2015
- Not checked yetcites Golec de Zavala and Cichocka, 2012
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In the paper
“Hofstadter (1966) noted that conspiracy theories help people comprehend complex events that are difficult to understand otherwise, by attributing these events to a powerful and evil enemy group.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Hofstadter (1966)
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In the paper
“Such conspiratorial anti-Semitism is a recurring issue throughout history.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Historical crises and conspiracy theories
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In the paper
“Likewise, people who feel powerless are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories (Abalakina-Paap et al., 1999; Imhoff and Bruder, 2014)”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Abalakina-Paap et al., 1999
- Not checked yetcites Imhoff and Bruder, 2014
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In the paper
“These considerations suggest that conspiracy theories are initiated by the subjective thoughts and feelings that people have when confronted with societal crisis situations, such as a fire, a disease epidemic, a war, a plane crash, or a terrorist strike.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Historical crises and conspiracy theories
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In the paper
“Such consequence-cause matching in conspiracy beliefs is due to an increased motivation to make sense of the event (Van Prooijen and Van Dijk, 2014).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Van Prooijen and Van Dijk, 2014
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A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“If belief in conspiracy theories is a way of making sense of a situation, it follows that such beliefs are increasingly likely to the extent that people experience uncertainty or a lack of control.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
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In the paper
“Although Andeweg (2014) did not directly assess belief in conspiracy theories, measures of trust in, and satisfaction with, politicians have been found to closely predict such beliefs (Abalakina-Paap et al., 1999; Goertzel, 1994).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Are conspiracy theories unique to our modern time?
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Abalakina-Paap et al., 1999
- Not checked yetcites Goertzel, 1994
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A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Combined with Uscinski and Parent’s (2014) data, these findings offer little evidence for the proposition that conspiracy theories are unique to our digital age.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Are conspiracy theories unique to our modern time?
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In the paper
“It has been noted that people’s motivation to make sense of their environment increases when they feel that they are not in control of a situation or when they experience subjective feelings of uncertainty (Van den Bos, 2009).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Van den Bos, 2009
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In the paper
“We propose a fluid, situational factor to predict such beliefs, namely, the presence versus absence of crisis situations.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Are conspiracy theories unique to our modern time?
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“Studies have revealed substantial conspiracy theorizing among citizens around the world, including Eastern Europe (Golec de Zavala and Cichocka, 2012), Asia (Mashuri and Zaduqisti, 2015; Swami, 2012), South Africa (Grebe and Nattrass, 2012), and the Middle East (Zonis and Joseph, 1994).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Are conspiracy theories unique to our modern time?
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Golec de Zavala and Cichocka, 2012
- Not checked yetcites Mashuri and Zaduqisti, 2015; Swami, 2012
- Not checked yetcites Grebe and Nattrass, 2012; Zonis and Joseph, 1994
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In the paper
“Feelings of uncertainty, and the fear of being out of control, also appear to predict a more general tendency to explain events that happen in the world through conspiracy theories, however, including conspiracy theories that are conceptually unrelated to the source of uncertainty (e.g. Kossowska and Bukowski, 2015).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Kossowska and Bukowski, 2015
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In the paper
“Such sense-making is particularly likely to stimulate conspiracy beliefs in a social context that involves hostile or ideologically dissimilar outgroups.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Put differently, when people experience such aversive feelings, they engage in increased sense-making activities in order to imbue a situation with meaning and purpose.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“Since people have a fundamental need to understand why events occurred, particularly in the case of negative or unexpected events (Brückmuller et al., this issue), crisis situations often elicit sense-making narratives among citizens that become part of their representations of history.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Introduction
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Brückmuller et al., this issue
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In the paper
“Furthermore, there is also little evidence to support the idea that conspiracy theories are specific to Western cultures.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Are conspiracy theories unique to our modern time?
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In the paper
“as are people who strongly experience fear of death (Newheiser et al., 2011).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Newheiser et al., 2011
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In the paper
“These studies suggest that specific impactful societal events—such as the assassination of a president—produce specific conspiracy theories (i.e. about the assassination).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
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In the paper
“people who have a relatively strong external locus of control—which is a structural tendency to attribute one’s own successes and failures to factors that are out of one’s own control—are more likely to report high levels of interpersonal mistrust, paranoia, and belief in conspiracy theories (Hamsher et al., 1968; Mirowsky and Ross, 1983).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Hamsher et al., 1968
- Not checked yetcites Mirowsky and Ross, 1983
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In the paper
“For instance, LeBoeuf and Norton (2012) found that a political assassination was more likely attributed to a conspiracy if it led to a war than if it did not lead to a war.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites LeBoeuf and Norton (2012)
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In the paper
“There have been within-country fluctuations throughout the years, but these fluctuations seem mostly due to specific historical events (e.g. economic recession vs prosperity) and do not reflect structural changes.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Are conspiracy theories unique to our modern time?
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Andeweg (2014)
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In the paper
“Results revealed that when the president was killed, people were more likely to believe a conspiracy was behind the attack than when the president survived (McCauley and Jacques, 1979).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites McCauley and Jacques, 1979
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In the paper
“Various major crisis events have taken place in recent history, and these events have inspired substantial conspiracy theorizing.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Historical crises and conspiracy theories
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In the paper
“More generally, a desire to make sense of the world is a core motive underlying belief in conspiracy theories (see also Bale, 2007).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Bale, 2007
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In the paper
“When people are anxious and uncertain, they seek to restore control through enhanced cognitive activity to increase comprehension of the situation that they find themselves in (see also Park, 2010).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Park, 2010
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In the paper
“research reveals that exposure to conspiracy theories increases feelings of powerlessness”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Jolley and Douglas, 2014a, 2014b
- Not checked yetcites Douglas and Sutton, 2015
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In the paper
“Second, this relationship between societal crisis situations and belief in conspiracy theories is attributable to feelings of fear, uncertainty, and being out of control.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Concluding remarks
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- Rests on an assumption: Societal crisis situations often arouse feelings of fear, uncertainty, or being out of control in people.
In the paper
“Longitudinal Gallup polling revealed that, in the 3 years directly after the assassination, slightly more than 50% of US citizens believed that JFK had been murdered as part of a conspiracy (see Swift, 2013, for an overview of these Gallup polls).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Implications for historical narratives
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Swift, 2013
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In the paper
“Results of their study revealed that feelings of job insecurity—that is, uncertainty about whether one’s job will continue to exist in the future—was a main predictor of such organizational conspiracy beliefs”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Van Prooijen and De Vries (2016)
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In the paper
“In sum, belief in conspiracy theories is intimately connected with feelings of fear, uncertainty, or being out of control”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“These feelings instigate sense-making processes that increase the likelihood that people perceive conspiracies in their social environment.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Concluding remarks
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- Rests on an assumption: Uncertainty stimulates a desire to make sense of one's social environment.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“As a consequence, conspiracy theories may spread over time and become part of people’s mental representations of important historical events, long after the feelings of uncertainty and fear that the events initially caused have dissipated.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Implications for historical narratives
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In the paper
“Third, after being formed, conspiracy theories can become part of lay representations of history and are transmitted to new generations as coherent narratives even though people do not experience uncertainty about past crisis situations anymore.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Concluding remarks
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In the paper
“While uncertainty and fear may have contributed to the genesis of JFK conspiracy theories back in 1963, it is difficult to account for these numbers through these emotional processes.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Implications for historical narratives
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- Rests on an assumption: After the first few years following the JFK assassination, the uncertainty and fear caused by the assassination had dissipated among the public.
In the paper
“Various polls suggest that ever since this event took place, the majority of US citizens have believed in one of the conspiracy theories about this event (Pipes, 1997).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Implications for historical narratives
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Pipes, 1997
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In the paper
“Furthermore, taking into account that the figures are very high also in recent years, it is quite likely that many people who were not even born in 1963 endorse a JFK conspiracy theory.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Implications for historical narratives
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“Such an uncertainty induction subsequently increased belief in conspiracy theories about various societal issues, provided that the relevant authorities were considered immoral (Van Prooijen and Jostmann, 2013; see also Van Prooijen, 2016).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Van Prooijen and Jostmann, 2013
- Not checked yetcites Van Prooijen, 2016
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In the paper
“Taken together, these findings suggest that lacking control, or subjective uncertainty, often increases people’s tendency to believe in conspiracy theories.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Taken together, these processes might explain why human history is replete with widespread belief in conspiracy theories.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Concluding remarks
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
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- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
In the paper
“For many people, the JFK assassination continues to be a “flashbulb memory,” as they still know exactly where they were and what they were doing when they first heard the news (see also Luminet and Spijkerman, this issue).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Implications for historical narratives
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Luminet and Spijkerman, this issue
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“As such, these insights can explain why conspiracy theories flourish particularly in societal crisis situations.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Rests on an assumption: Societal crisis situations often arouse feelings of fear, uncertainty, or being out of control in people.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“which, in turn, leads to a variety of maladaptive behavioral intentions, such as withdrawal from politics, a decreased willingness to reduce one’s carbon footprint (in response to climate conspiracy belief), and a decreased willingness to have a child vaccinated (in response to vaccine conspiracy beliefs; Jolley and Douglas, 2014a, 2014b; see also Douglas and Sutton, 2015).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Jolley and Douglas, 2014a, 2014b
- Not checked yetcites Douglas and Sutton, 2015
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
In the paper
“There has been variation in the number of crises throughout the past few decades that citizens encountered (e.g. economic recession vs prosperity; war vs peace), but this waxing and waning of societal crises are not visible in the Gallup figures (Swift, 2013).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Implications for historical narratives
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Swift, 2013
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“First, conspiracy theories are not unique to our current time or culture. People of all eras and cultures are likely to believe in conspiracy theories, provided that they are confronted with societal crisis situations.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Concluding remarks
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“These findings underscore that in a variety of settings, subjectively experiencing uncertainty or powerlessness is a recipe for conspiracy beliefs.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
In the paper
“Compared to other participants—who had written about a less threatening experience—these participants were subsequently more likely to believe in conspiracy theories that were unrelated to the out-of-control experience”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Whitson and Galinsky (2008)
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
In the paper
“Their findings reveal that minority group members who face real problems—such as racial discrimination—are more likely than majority group members to attribute these problems to conspiracies.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Crocker et al. (1999)
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
In the paper
“Conspiracy theories also appear to influence people without their awareness (Douglas and Sutton, 2008).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Douglas and Sutton, 2008
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Instead, we propose that conspiracy theories can become coherent historical narratives that are transmitted to future generations as if they were facts, even if the actual facts do not provide compelling evidence for the conspiracy theory.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Implications for historical narratives
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- It may state two separate claims as one. 27
- Probably not a substantial claim. 6
- The quote only partly states this claim. 1
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We first illustrate historical incidents suggesting that societal crisis situations—defined as impactful and rapid societal change that calls established power structures, norms of conduct, or even the existence of specific people or groups into question—have stimulated belief in conspiracy theories.”
- Also stated in: § Historical crises and conspiracy theories · boosted
“More important for the present purposes is that societal crisis situations almost invariably elicit conspiracy theories.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Abstract
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § Historical crises and conspiracy theories · boosted
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We conclude that conspiracy theories originate particularly in crisis situations and may form the basis for how people subsequently remember and mentally represent a historical event.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Abstract
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Contrary to common assumptions, belief in conspiracy theories has been prevalent throughout human history.”
- Also stated in: § Are conspiracy theories unique to our modern time? · hedged
“A more plausible conclusion, therefore, is that a tendency to believe in conspiracy theories is part of human nature and that people have been susceptible to such beliefs throughout history.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Abstract
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § Are conspiracy theories unique to our modern time? · hedged
In the paper
“While some conspiracy theories have turned out to be true (e.g. the Watergate and Iran–Contra scandals), most conspiracy theories in history have no evidence to support them (Pipes, 1997).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Introduction
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Pipes, 1997
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“People often experience such situations as uncontrollable, and hence, they are a cause of substantial uncertainty and anxiety among citizens.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The psychological concepts of lacking control and experiencing subjective uncertainty are closely interrelated, and both describe the aversive experience of being in situations where it is unclear what the future may hold.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Back in the 1930s and 1940s, Jewish conspiracy theories were a major part of Hitler’s speeches and a potent force in inspiring the Holocaust (Snyder, 2015).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Historical crises and conspiracy theories
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Snyder, 2015
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Such a competitive intergroup setting promotes a need to be vigilant, given that the powerful outgroup may cause more harm in the future, and conspiracy beliefs enable perceivers to estimate what the outgroup is capable of.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Conspiracy theories provide people with simplified answers, specifically to questions of how a certain crisis situation emerged, and which societal actors can and cannot be trusted.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Crisis situations are likely to have the psychological effect on people that they become uncertain or feel that they cannot control their environment anymore.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Thus, many crisis situations took place, and almost invariably, these crisis situations led large groups of citizens to embrace conspiracy theories.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Historical crises and conspiracy theories
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The first spike occurred shortly before the year 1900, at the height of the second industrial revolution—a period that was characterized by the rise of major companies, quick technological progress, and rapidly changing power structures.”
- Also stated in: § Are conspiracy theories unique to our modern time? · plain
“The second spike occurred during the late 1940s and the early 1950s—a period that marked the beginning of the Cold War.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Are conspiracy theories unique to our modern time?
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Uscinski and Parent (2014)
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one. The quote only partly states this claim.
- Also stated in: § Are conspiracy theories unique to our modern time? · plain
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Moreover, it is often easy to connect societal crises to the purposeful misdeeds of hostile groups, making it likely that many citizens consider the possibility of secret conspiracy formation.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“However, while these latter conspiracy theories do not emerge from an objectively “real” crisis, they do make assumptions of a powerful government that deceives citizens in a deliberate and highly ingenious fashion. Such conspiracy theories therefore still originate from subjective perceptions of a nation being in crisis.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Historical crises and conspiracy theories
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“But more interesting was the prevalence of conspiracy theories: The extent to which these letters contained conspiracy theories fluctuated but did not increase over time.”
- Also stated in: § Are conspiracy theories unique to our modern time? · plain
“The core conclusion that emerges from these data is that conspiracy theories have not increased over time, and if there ever has been an “age of conspiracism,” it is not in the present decade.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Are conspiracy theories unique to our modern time?
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Uscinski and Parent (2014)
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § Are conspiracy theories unique to our modern time? · plain
In the paper
“Around the same time, however, conspiracy theories started to spread, which asserted that Nero and his associates deliberately started the fire in order to rebuild Rome according to his own vision. In addition, these conspiracy theories stated that Nero was singing while Rome was burning (for a more elaborate description, see Brotherton, 2015).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Historical crises and conspiracy theories
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Brotherton, 2015
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Conspiracy theories address these feelings by enabling precautionary actions to the alleged conspirators—leading to increased vigilance that may be useful in exposing, combating, or avoiding the conspiracy.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Furthermore, while no research has yet studied cultural differences in conspiracy belief, our line of reasoning suggests that possible cultural differences are likely to be attributable to variations in the extent to which cultures experience uncertainty and fear (e.g. low- vs high-trust cultures).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Are conspiracy theories unique to our modern time?
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“As each generation typically faces a range of societal crisis situations, such as revolutions, wars, economic recessions, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters, this would explain why conspiracy theorizing has been prevalent throughout history.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Are conspiracy theories unique to our modern time?
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The results suggest that although across EU member states political trust and satisfaction tend to be low, they are not declining.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Are conspiracy theories unique to our modern time?
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Andeweg (2014)
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Even back in the Roman era, there are prominent examples of conspiracy theories, and these are typically connected to major crisis situations.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Historical crises and conspiracy theories
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Brotherton, 2015
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Put differently, a conspiracy theory helps people to make sense of the world by specifying the causes of important events, which further helps them predict, and anticipate, the future.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“It has been noted that people typically make sense of past events as “lay historians” who—unlike professional historians—rarely base their conclusions on direct historical sources. Instead, lay historians transmit historical narratives to others based on their imperfect memory, as well as on other imperfect sources of information such as folklore, novels, films, and the like (see Klein, 2013).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Implications for historical narratives
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Klein, 2013
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Nevertheless, it is a safe guess that few modern European citizens would endorse such beliefs today (although comparable witchcraft conspiracy theories are still common in other parts of the world, for example, parts of Africa; West and Sanders, 2003).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Implications for historical narratives
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites West and Sanders, 2003
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For instance, it was common for citizens to believe that many young women conspired as witches with the Devil back in the seventeenth century, and this conspiracy theory in all likelihood emerged through similar processes as other conspiracy theories discussed in this article.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Implications for historical narratives
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The above-mentioned findings are correlational, and hence, these studies do not reveal whether uncertainty causes conspiracy beliefs, or vice versa.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“At the same time, believing that the world is filled with evil conspiracies is likely to invoke a host of negative emotions, which may help explain why belief in one conspiracy theory stimulates belief in other conspiracy theories (Goertzel, 1994; Wood et al., 2012).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > The psychology of conspiracy beliefs
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Goertzel, 1994
- Not checked yetcites Wood et al., 2012
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Be that as it may, our conclusion is that while conspiracy theories are initially based on the emotional experiences associated with imminent crisis situations, they may soon after stabilize into coherent narratives that are part of how people remember the past.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Implications for historical narratives
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Here, we propose that while conspiracy theories may originate through the emotional processes of lacking control or feeling uncertain, at a relatively fast pace they can become coherent narratives that shape people’s representations of history (see also Hilton and Liu, this issue).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Implications for historical narratives
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Hilton and Liu, this issue
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Rests on an assumption: Uncertainty stimulates a desire to make sense of one's social environment.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Not all conspiracy theories make history this way, and in fact, the plausibility that people accord to certain conspiracy theories can also decrease over time as a function of new insights.”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Implications for historical narratives
plainconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“The feature of conspiracy theories that they summarize complex events into a simplified story—typically involving a powerful enemy group (i.e. the conspiracy) that deliberately organizes and carries out an evil plan— makes such theories ideally suited for cultural transmission as they are easily understood by lay people (see Bilewicz et al., this issue; Bruckmüller et al., this issue).”
§ Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations > Implications for historical narratives
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Bilewicz et al., this issue
- Not checked yetcites Bruckmüller et al., this issue
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper relies on this without support.
People have a basic need to experience a certain level of control over their environment and to know what to expect from that environment.
“Such experiences are threatening, as people have a basic need to experience a certain level of control over their environment and to know what to expect from that environment.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Feelings of control and certainty enable people to effectively navigate the world by successfully seizing on opportunities, avoiding threats, and making good choices that contribute constructively to one's wellbeing.
“Feelings of control and certainty enable people to effectively navigate the world by successfully seizing on opportunities, avoiding threats, and making good choices that contribute constructively to one’s wellbeing.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Societal crisis situations often arouse feelings of fear, uncertainty, or being out of control in people.
“it is likely that societal crisis situations often arouse such feelings in people.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Uncertainty stimulates a desire to make sense of one's social environment.
“The main underlying process for this connection is that uncertainty stimulates a desire to make sense of one’s social environment.”
The paper relies on this without support.
After the first few years following the JFK assassination, the uncertainty and fear caused by the assassination had dissipated among the public.
“It stands to reason that, after these first few years, the uncertainty and fear that were caused by the Kennedy assassination had dissipated among the public.”
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“speculation and misinformation about his death can continue to serve as a gateway to further conspiratorial thinking, also providing a vocabulary and template to be easily applied in other times of societal unrest and uncertainty (van Prooijen & Douglas, 2017).”
From "Just Asking Questions": Doing Our Own Research on Conspiratorial Ideation by Generative AI Chatbots (2026) · cites this paper as van Prooijen & Douglas, 2017
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Citations
Cites
Park, C. L. (2010) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0018301 · Cited by 3,174
The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Other Essays
Barker, C. A., & Hofstadter, R. (1966) · The American Historical Review · doi:10.2307/1848349 · Cited by 1,448
The Effects of Anti-Vaccine Conspiracy Theories on Vaccination Intentions
Jolley, D., & Douglas, K. M. (2014) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0089177 · Cited by 1,232 · cited 1×
“…as withdrawal from politics, a decreased willingness to reduce one’s carbon footprint (in response to climate conspiracy belief), and a decreased willingness to have a child vaccinated (in response to vaccine conspiracy beliefs; Jolley and Douglas, 2014a, 2014b; see also Douglas and Sutton, 2015).”
Self-citationLacking control increases illusory pattern perception
Whitson, J. A., & Galinsky, A. D. (2008) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1159845 · Cited by 1,119
Goertzel, T. (1994) · Political Psychology · doi:10.2307/3791630 · Cited by 1,094 · cited 2×
“Although Andeweg (2014) did not directly assess belief in conspiracy theories, measures of trust in, and satisfaction with, politicians have been found to closely predict such beliefs (Abalakina-Paap et al., 1999; Goertzel, 1994).”
Conspiracy theories: Causes and cures
Sunstein, C. R., & Vermeule, A. (2009) · Journal of Political Philosophy · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9760.2008.00325.x · Cited by 1,050
Uscinski, J. E., & Parent, J. M. (2014) · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199351800.001.0001 · Cited by 939
Speaking (Un–)Truth to Power: Conspiracy Mentality as A Generalised Political Attitude
Imhoff, R., & Bruder, M. (2014) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.1930 · Cited by 831 · cited 1×
“Likewise, people who feel powerless are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories (Abalakina-Paap et al., 1999; Imhoff and Bruder, 2014), as are people who strongly experience fear of death (Newheiser et al., 2011).”
BackgroundJolley, D., & Douglas, K. M. (2014) · British Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjop.12018 · Cited by 685
Self-citationDead and Alive: Beliefs in Contradictory Conspiracy Theories
Wood, M. J., Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2012) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/1948550611434786 · Cited by 660
Self-citation
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response
Bavel, J. J. V., Baicker, K., Boggio, P. S., Capraro, V., Cichocka, A., Cikara, M., Crockett, M. J., Crum, A. J., Douglas, K. M., Druckman, J. N., et al. (2020) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-020-0884-z · Cited by 4,964
Self-citationBeyond misinformation: Understanding and coping with the “post-truth” era.
Lewandowsky, S., Ecker, U. K. H., & Cook, J. (2017) · Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.jarmac.2017.07.008 · Cited by 1,985
Understanding Conspiracy Theories
Douglas, K. M., Uscinski, J. E., Sutton, R. M., Cichocka, A., Nefes, T., Ang, C. S., & Deravi, F. (2019) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.12568 · Cited by 1,511
Self-citationImhoff, R., & Lamberty, P. (2020) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/1948550620934692 · Cited by 722
Pylons 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
Metadata
- Authors
- van Prooijen, J.-W., & Douglas, K. M.
- Affiliations
- VU Amsterdam, The Netherlands; The Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement, The Netherlands
- University of Kent (GB)
- ORCID
- Douglas, Karen M
- Venue
- Memory Studies
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2017-06-29
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 323-333
- ISSN
- 1750-6980 (ISSN-L)
- 1750-6999
- PMC
- PMC5646574
- OpenAlex
- W2601886268
- Semantic Scholar
- a39a4c367f7baa2e4bae6db05f174dc9eb4cfc09
- Cited by
- 764
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 92 · 2025: 116 · 2024: 95 · 2023: 94 · 2022: 164 · 2021: 132 · 2020: 56 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 49.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Memory Studies (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- VU Research Portal (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Kent Academic Repository (University of Kent) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- European Commission
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Misinformation and Its Impacts
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
- Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Memory, History, Trauma, Identity
- Keywords
- conspiracy theories, social crisis, fear, uncertainty, sensemaking, historical narratives, cultural transmission, power structures
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-09, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).
A second model labelled each claim on 2026-10-09 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
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