Belief in Conspiracy Theories

“People rationally and subjectively interpret conspiracy theories rather than believing in one conspiracy theory, which inclines them to believe in the other conspiracy theories (Goertzel, 1994).”

“Importantly, Miller (2020) demonstrates that rather than an entirely monological approach, e.g., Goertzel (1994), individual and situational factors interact to amplify CT beliefs to a greater extent than any single factor does on its own.”

“…theories (e.g., Lantian et al., 2017; Swami et al., 2016), such as attitudes toward authority (Imhoff & Bruder, 2014), political cynicism (Swami & Furnham, 2012), anomie, distrust in authority, and powerlessness (Abalakina-Paap et al., 1999; Goertzel, 1994; Miller et al., 2016; Swami et al., 2011).”

“It is a well-established finding that believing in one conspiracy theory increases the likelihood that a person will believe in another, unrelated conspiracy theory (Goertzel, 1994; Wood et al., 2012).”

“…1996; Imhoff and Bruder, 2014), distrust of authority and institutions (Bruder et al., 2013; Leman and Cinnirella, 2007), feelings of powerlessness or social alienation (Goertzel, 1994; Imhoff and Bruder, 2014), and high openness to experience (Bruder et al., 2013; Imhoff and Bruder, 2014).”

“…al., 2015; Darwin et al., 2011; Furnham & Grover, 2021; Swami et al., 2011, 2016; Van der Tempel & Alcock, 2015), anomie (Abalakina-Paap et al., 1999; Goertzel, 1994), a desire for chaos (Farhart et al., 2023), a denial of expert information (Uscinski & Klofstad, 2024), and illusory pattern…”

“The three-item AS (Goertzel 1994) was used to assess anomie.”

“Prior work has shown that belief in one conspiracy is predictive of belief in other conspiracy theories [54, 117, 141].”

“…of CBs, such as restoring feelings of control when people are in anxious and powerless situations ( Kofta and Sedek, 2005 ), providing simple explanations for complex issues, and raising ingroup cohesion ( Bruce, 2008 ; Douglas et al., 2017 ; Goertzel, 1994 ; Pfahl-Traughber, 2002 ; Swami, 2012 ).”

“Dem stehen Beobachtungen entgegen, die das Gefühl politisch etwas bewegen zu können und die Existenz von Sozialvertrauen als positive Faktoren ausmachen, die gegen den Glauben an Verschwörungserzählungen wirken (Goertzel 1994, S. 737).”

“This process enhances the likelihood of belief in relevant conspiracies and provides an informative basis for fostering various types of distrust (Goertzel, 1994).”

“For instance, Goertzel (1994) found that trust was a significant negative antecedent to societal conspiracy beliefs.”

“Whereas previous research often relied on a measure of trust in specific others (e.g., neighbors, relatives; Goertzel, 1994), we utilized a widely-used measure from the European Social Survey (2018) that asked participants to indicate their general trust in most others .”

“…believing in conspiracy theories is related to a lack of trust in others (Abalakina-Paap et al., 1999; Douglas et al., 2019; Douglas & Sutton, 2018; Goertzel, 1994; Golec de Zavala & Federico, 2018; van Prooijen & Acker, 2015) and with lower levels of trust in governments, authorities, media, and…”

“Conspiracy theories’ content is proposed explanations of an event or a practice that refer to the machinations of powerful people, institutions, or a secret society (e.g. Coady, 2003; Goertzel, 1994; Keeley, 1999).”

“Accepting one conspir-acy theory makes it much easier to believe in other theories (Goertzel, 1994).”

“…and some dispositional traits have been identified as correlates of conspiracy thinking: feelings of powerlessness, low interpersonal trust, anomie (Goertzel, 1994), uncertainty (van Prooijen & Jostmann, 2013), and a tendency to believe in paranormal or supernatural forces (Brotherton et al.,…”

“For some, such as Black Americans (Goertzel, 1994; Davis et al., 2018), the mindset accords with their experiences of abuse at the hands of the government.”

“However, one of the strongest predictors of adherence to one CT is the degree to which individuals adhere to other CTs (Goertzel, 1994; Sutton & Douglas, 2014; Wagner-Egger & Bangerter, 2007), even if those beliefs were artificially created for experimental purposes (Swami et al.”

“This concept fi nds support in the research showing that conspiracy theories can coalesce into a monological belief system, wherein individuals who endorse one conspiracy theory are more likely to accept others (Goertzel, 1994).”

“Goertzel (1994) suggests that belief in one conspiracy theory predisposes individuals to believe in others (also see Wood et al., 2012).”

“This fits with evidence showing that conspiracy theories prosper among people with paranoid ideation (Darwin et al. 2011; Imhoff and Lamberty 2018) and with low levels of trust (Abalakina-Paap et al. 1999; Goertzel 1994).”

“On the other hand, crisis situations such as pandemics increase the recourse to conspiracytheoretical explanations [6].”

“Research in the past has shown that conspiracy narratives emerge more likely when people feel loss of control and uncertainty (Goertzel, 1994; Lamberty, 2020).”

“Literature on conspiracy beliefs has further proposed that generic conspiracy beliefs often predict content-specific conspiracy beliefs and not vice versa (Bensley et al., 2020; Brotherton & French, 2014; Brotherton et al., 2013; Goertzel, 1994).”

“According to Ted Goertzel (1994), minority status and ‘anomia’ are the strongest determinants of belief in conspiracies, with minority status also being strongly correlated with ‘anomia’ and with lower levels of interpersonal trust.”

“The most commonly accepted definition of a conspiracy theory is “a proposed plot by powerful people or organisations working together in secret to accomplish some (usually sinister) goal” (Wood, Douglas, & Sutton, 2012, p 767; see also Coady, 2006; Douglas & Sutton, 2008; Goertzel, 1994).”

“Dadurch wird z.B. die Mondlandung durch die Amerikaner zunehmend immer unwahrscheinlicher (Goertzel 1994).”

“A combination of all these factors manifests in what Goertzel (1994) called a monological belief system: “belief systems closed on themselves, in which each conspiracy belief reinforces others, buttressing a general assumption that the world is orchestrated by sinister forces” [32].”

“Beliefs similar to the ones mentioned in relation to COVID-19 have existed in the literature under the title of conspiracy theories (Goertzel, 1994; Zonis and Joseph, 1994; Aaronovitch, 2010).”

“On the one hand, one of the most robust findings in the literature on general conspiracy beliefs is that those believing in conspiracies exhibit higher levels of distrust (Goertzel 1994; Abalakina-Paap et al.”

“Goertzel (1994), Abalakina-Paap et al. (1999) and Swami et al. (2010) each suggest a scale based on responses to a list of specific conspiracy theories (assassination of J F Kennedy, deliberate spread of AIDS, the moon landing, the death of Princess Diana and so on) by asking participating…”

“Another potentially important predictor is people’s feelings of anomie, that is of alienation and disaffection from societal systems (e.g., Bruder et al., 2013; Goertzel, 1994).”

“In the construction of the subtest, we drew on a large number of conspiracies that have been studied in the literature (Goertzel, 1994; Lewandowsky et al., 2013; Oliver & Wood, 2014), and added a few new ones of our own.”

“First , conspiracy beliefs are associated with a general distrust of other people (Goertzel, 1994; Green & Douglas, 2018).”

“…insbesondere bei der Bevölkerungsgruppe, die tatsächlich Opfer einer heimlich durchgeführten Misshandlung war, wie z.B. die Syphilisexperimente an Afroamerikanern im Rahmen der Tuskegee-Studie, eine deutlich höhere Bereitschaft nachwies, Verschwörungstheorien Glauben zu schenken (Goertzel 1994).”

“People prone to conspiracies attribute significant social and political events to the actions of sinister powerful actors (e.g., Goertzel, 1994; Uscinski & Parent, 2014).”

“For some researchers, conspiracy theories may constitute a flawed way of thinking related to some cognitive deficit (e.g., Darwin et al., 2011; Goertzel, 1994; Sunstein & Vermeule, 2009).”

“…in Anlehnung an Moscovici (1987) 4 Charakteristisch für die Verschwörungsmentalität ist außerdem, dass Personen, die an eine Verschwörungserzählung glauben, auch eher bereit sind, an weitere Verschwörungserzählungen zu glauben (Goertzel 1994; ebenso Swami et al. 2011; Swami/ Furnham 2012).”

“We decided to include different and partly contradictory conspiracy theories about the coronavirus since a study from Goertzel (1994) indicated that people who believe in one conspiracy theory most likely believe in others as well.”

“They are defined by their contradiction to the widely accepted narrative for events and by their insinuation of malevolent influence (Goertzel, 1994).”

“This is important given that people who believe in one conspiracy theory are often inclined to believe in others (Douglas and Sutton 2023; Ecker et al. 2022; Goertzel 1994).”

“, [11, 17]) which exemplify the so-called “monological belief system”: that believing in one conspiracy theory makes it more likely to believe in other conspiracies.”

“2021), conspiracy theories around COVID-19 followed well-established narratives that characterized epidemics related to various viruses since the 1980s (see Earnshaw et al. 2019; Goertzel 1994; Klofstad et al. 2019; Setbon and Raude 2010).”

“3,22,25 While studies have examined these perspectives by taking an individual’s belief as a unit of observation, little is known about the narrative systems in the ‘‘rabbit hole,’’ 3 in terms of how conspiratorial stories are interwoven, interact, and evolve through social media conversations.”

“…auxiliam a compreender as publicações promovidas pela página Flat Earth Society como representações desses enunciados, o que está em consonância com as discussões realizadas por Goertzel (1994) e Wood, Douglas e Sutton (2012) sobre conspirações constituírem-se como um sistema monológico de crenças.”

“Empirical research consistently finds that beliefs in specific kinds of conspiracy theories are strongly intercorrelated, which suggests an underlying predisposition for conspiracy explanations (e.g., Goertzel, 1994).”

“Further, interpersonal and institutional distrust can be critical for the formation processes of conspiracy theory beliefs (Goertzel, 1994; Miller, Saunders, & Farhart, 2016; Meuer & Imhoff, 2021; Saunders, 2017).”

“Indeed, it has been shown that conspiratorial ideation is usually embedded within a monological system of conspiratorial beliefs (Goertzel, 1994).”

“If one believes in one CT, one becomes more likely to believe in others, and ‘the tendency to believe in conspiracies is correlated with anomia, with a lack of trust in other people, and feelings of insecurity about unemployment’ (Goertzel 1994, 739).”