The DOI matches its Crossref record; 34 of the 34 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The Hidden Impact of Conspiracy Theories: Perceived and Actual Influence of Theories Surrounding the Death of Princess Diana
Abstract
The authors examined the perceived and actual impact of exposure to conspiracy theories surrounding the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997. One group of undergraduate students rated their agreement and their classmates' perceived agreement with several statements about Diana's death. A second group of students from the same undergraduate population read material containing popular conspiracy theories about Diana's death before rating their own and others' agreement with the same statements and perceived retrospective attitudes (i.e., what they thought their own and others' attitudes were before reading the material). Results revealed that whereas participants in the second group accurately estimated others' attitude changes, they underestimated the extent to which their own attitudes were influenced.
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“Douglas and Sutton (2008) showed that people were effectively persuaded by proconspiracy material but were not aware that they had been persuaded and falsely recalled that their preexposure beliefs were identical to their new beliefs.”
From The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories (2017) · cites this paper as Douglas and Sutton (2008)
In the citing paper
“Further, recent findings suggest that people tend to be persuaded by conspiracy theories they are exposed to without being aware of it [20].”
From The Effects of Anti-Vaccine Conspiracy Theories on Vaccination Intentions (2014) · cites this paper as [20]
In the citing paper
“Psychologists are learning more about the traits and characteristics associated with beliefs in conspiracy theories more generally, such as mistrust, anomie, political cynicism and Machiavellianism [8], [20], [31], [50]”
From The Effects of Anti-Vaccine Conspiracy Theories on Vaccination Intentions (2014) · cites this paper as [20]
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“Mere exposure to CTs has been found to influence behavior, regardless whether people believe them or not (e.g., Douglas & Sutton, 2008).”
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“Literature on conspiracy ideation suggests that CTs can shape people’s attitudes (Douglas and Sutton, 2008) whether it be public opinion on the ‘assassination’ of prominent individuals like President John F. Kennedy (Butler et al., 1995) or Princess Diana (Douglas and Sutton, 2008), or attitudes towards social and hea…”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Kent (GB)
- Venue
- The Journal of Social Psychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2008-04
- Volume
- 148
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 210-222
- ISSN
- 0022-4545 (ISSN-L)
- 1940-1183
- OpenAlex
- W2047390304
- Cited by
- 247
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 23 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 11.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (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
- conspiracy theories, Princess Diana, perceived influence, attitude change, social influence
- MeSH terms
- Accidents, Traffic, Adolescent, Adult, Attitude to Death, England, Famous Persons, Female, Homicide, Humans, Deception, Male, Persuasive Communication, Psychological Theory, Public Opinion, Students, Wales
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