Over the last decade, the number of studies investigating conspiracy theory beliefs has attracted attention in the fields of social, differential, and experimental psychology. Nevertheless, more research is needed to methodically and thoroughly examine this social psychological phenomenon.
To fully explore the subject, Frontiers in Psychology is pleased to introduce the article collection “Emerging Research: Conspiracy Beliefs”.
This Research Topic calls for new theoretical ideas, conceptual heuristics, and methodological innovation. We welcome original research and state-of-the-art reviews as well as other article types addressing, but not limited to, the following research areas:
-The relationship of conspiracy narratives with real-world conspiracy belief
- Motivations for belief in conspiracy theories
- Predictors of conspiracy beliefs (e.g., personality traits)
-What are conspiracy theories (CTs) from a narrative perspective? How do they generate? How do CTs emerge as alternative account of mainstream narrative and how do they differ from mainstream?
-Why are CTs so persuasive? Which cognitive biases do they exploit in order to be so appealing (e.g., confirmation bias, preference for emotionally loaded information)?
-What are the individual and societal consequences of endorsing CTs? (COVID spread, reduced voting behavior, aggression)
-Intervention: limiting CTs endorsement and their spread/transmission (e.g., increasing analytic thinking)
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of Frontiers in Psychology and within the scope of the section to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
Over the last decade, the number of studies investigating conspiracy theory beliefs has attracted attention in the fields of social, differential, and experimental psychology. Nevertheless, more research is needed to methodically and thoroughly examine this social psychological phenomenon.
To fully explore the subject, Frontiers in Psychology is pleased to introduce the article collection “Emerging Research: Conspiracy Beliefs”.
This Research Topic calls for new theoretical ideas, conceptual heuristics, and methodological innovation. We welcome original research and state-of-the-art reviews as well as other article types addressing, but not limited to, the following research areas:
-The relationship of conspiracy narratives with real-world conspiracy belief
- Motivations for belief in conspiracy theories
- Predictors of conspiracy beliefs (e.g., personality traits)
-What are conspiracy theories (CTs) from a narrative perspective? How do they generate? How do CTs emerge as alternative account of mainstream narrative and how do they differ from mainstream?
-Why are CTs so persuasive? Which cognitive biases do they exploit in order to be so appealing (e.g., confirmation bias, preference for emotionally loaded information)?
-What are the individual and societal consequences of endorsing CTs? (COVID spread, reduced voting behavior, aggression)
-Intervention: limiting CTs endorsement and their spread/transmission (e.g., increasing analytic thinking)
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of Frontiers in Psychology and within the scope of the section to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.