My NCBISign In

Display Settings:

Format

Send to:

Choose Destination
    Br J Soc Psychol. 2011 Sep;50(3):544-52. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8309.2010.02018.x. Epub 2011 Apr 12.

    Does it take one to know one? Endorsement of conspiracy theories is influenced by personal willingness to conspire.

    Douglas KM, Sutton RM.

    Source

    School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NP, United Kingdom. k.douglas@kent.ac.uk

    Abstract

    We advance a new account of why people endorse conspiracy theories, arguing that individuals use the social-cognitive tool of projection when making social judgements about others. In two studies, we found that individuals were more likely to endorse conspiracy theories if they thought they would be willing, personally, to participate in the alleged conspiracies. Study 1 established an association between conspiracy beliefs and personal willingness to conspire, which fully mediated a relationship between Machiavellianism and conspiracy beliefs. In Study 2, participants primed with their own morality were less inclined than controls to endorse conspiracy theories - a finding fully mediated by personal willingness to conspire. These results suggest that some people think 'they conspired' because they think 'I would conspire'.

    ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

    PMID:
    21486312
    [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

    Publication Types, MeSH Terms

    Publication Types

    MeSH Terms

    LinkOut - more resources

    Full Text Sources

    Other Literature Sources

      Supplemental Content

      Related citations

      See reviews... See all...

      Recent activity

      Clear Turn Off Turn On

      Your browsing activity is empty.

      Activity recording is turned off.

      Turn recording back on

      See more...
      You are here: NCBI > Literature > PubMed
      Write to the Help Desk