Both a bioweapon and a hoax: the curious case of contradictory conspiracy theories about COVID-19
Abstract
Amidst the flow of conspiracy theories (CTs) about the COVID-19 pandemic, many were logically incompatible. We aimed to map the psychological profile of their endorsers. Upon pretesting for familiarity and logical incompatibility, we choose eight pairs of contradictory COVID-19 CTs. Across three studies, a substantial portion of respondents (40%–42%) endorsed at least one pair. In Study 1 (N = 290), conspiracy mentality and doublethink, but not preference for consistency, meaningfully related to endorsement of contradictory CTs; doublethink contributed over and above other predictors. In two following studies we introduced indicators of superficial (Study 2; N = 281) and analytical (Study 3; N = 170) information-processing as predictors. The endorsers of contradictory CTs were more intuitive, prone to ontological confusions and pseudo-profound bullshit, less rational and less actively open-minded; doublethink again added to the prediction. We end by suggesting how the interventions sho...uld be tailored to address people with such distinct information-processing style.
Keywords:
covid19 conspiracy theories / inconsistent beliefs / doublethink / superficial information processing / thinking stylesSource:
Thinking & Reasoning, 2022Publisher:
- Taylor & Francis
Note:
- This work is a part of Marija Petrović's PhD thesis entitled “Consistently inconsistent: predictivity and validity of doublethink” at the University of Belgrade, supervised by Dr. Iris Žeželj.
Institution/Community
Psihologija / PsychologyTY - JOUR AU - Petrović, Marija AU - Žeželj, Iris PY - 2022 UR - http://reff.f.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/4596 AB - Amidst the flow of conspiracy theories (CTs) about the COVID-19 pandemic, many were logically incompatible. We aimed to map the psychological profile of their endorsers. Upon pretesting for familiarity and logical incompatibility, we choose eight pairs of contradictory COVID-19 CTs. Across three studies, a substantial portion of respondents (40%–42%) endorsed at least one pair. In Study 1 (N = 290), conspiracy mentality and doublethink, but not preference for consistency, meaningfully related to endorsement of contradictory CTs; doublethink contributed over and above other predictors. In two following studies we introduced indicators of superficial (Study 2; N = 281) and analytical (Study 3; N = 170) information-processing as predictors. The endorsers of contradictory CTs were more intuitive, prone to ontological confusions and pseudo-profound bullshit, less rational and less actively open-minded; doublethink again added to the prediction. We end by suggesting how the interventions should be tailored to address people with such distinct information-processing style. PB - Taylor & Francis T2 - Thinking & Reasoning T1 - Both a bioweapon and a hoax: the curious case of contradictory conspiracy theories about COVID-19 DO - 10.1080/13546783.2022.2088618 ER -
@article{ author = "Petrović, Marija and Žeželj, Iris", year = "2022", abstract = "Amidst the flow of conspiracy theories (CTs) about the COVID-19 pandemic, many were logically incompatible. We aimed to map the psychological profile of their endorsers. Upon pretesting for familiarity and logical incompatibility, we choose eight pairs of contradictory COVID-19 CTs. Across three studies, a substantial portion of respondents (40%–42%) endorsed at least one pair. In Study 1 (N = 290), conspiracy mentality and doublethink, but not preference for consistency, meaningfully related to endorsement of contradictory CTs; doublethink contributed over and above other predictors. In two following studies we introduced indicators of superficial (Study 2; N = 281) and analytical (Study 3; N = 170) information-processing as predictors. The endorsers of contradictory CTs were more intuitive, prone to ontological confusions and pseudo-profound bullshit, less rational and less actively open-minded; doublethink again added to the prediction. We end by suggesting how the interventions should be tailored to address people with such distinct information-processing style.", publisher = "Taylor & Francis", journal = "Thinking & Reasoning", title = "Both a bioweapon and a hoax: the curious case of contradictory conspiracy theories about COVID-19", doi = "10.1080/13546783.2022.2088618" }
Petrović, M.,& Žeželj, I.. (2022). Both a bioweapon and a hoax: the curious case of contradictory conspiracy theories about COVID-19. in Thinking & Reasoning Taylor & Francis.. https://doi.org/10.1080/13546783.2022.2088618
Petrović M, Žeželj I. Both a bioweapon and a hoax: the curious case of contradictory conspiracy theories about COVID-19. in Thinking & Reasoning. 2022;. doi:10.1080/13546783.2022.2088618 .
Petrović, Marija, Žeželj, Iris, "Both a bioweapon and a hoax: the curious case of contradictory conspiracy theories about COVID-19" in Thinking & Reasoning (2022), https://doi.org/10.1080/13546783.2022.2088618 . .