Thought contagion? Conspiracy beliefs boost paranoid thoughts.
conspiracy beliefs
conspiracy theories
negative emotions
paranoid thoughts
Journal
Applied psychology. Health and well-being
ISSN: 1758-0854
Titre abrégé: Appl Psychol Health Well Being
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101502957
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
19 Jul 2024
19 Jul 2024
Historique:
received:
12
03
2024
accepted:
29
06
2024
medline:
20
7
2024
pubmed:
20
7
2024
entrez:
20
7
2024
Statut:
aheadofprint
Résumé
Conspiracy theories accusing specific groups of secret malevolent actions can foster a perception of the world as a dangerous place. In our research, we contend that both adherence and exposure to conspiracy beliefs can serve as a potential cause of certain psychological problems in the form of paranoid thoughts. This hypothesis was tested in three studies conducted among Polish and British participants. In Study 1 (longitudinal, N = 603), we found that conspiracy beliefs exerted a positive overtime effect on paranoid thoughts. Experimental studies 2 (N = 384) and 3 (N = 445), showed that being exposed to conspiracy theories (vs. control stimuli) heightened paranoid thoughts. In Study 3, we proposed a potential mechanism explaining this effect, according to which exposure to conspiracies increased paranoid thoughts via only negative intense emotions. Our work adds to the discussion on the consequences of conspiracy beliefs and has implications for mental health research, underlining the importance of designing interventions limiting the adverse effects of conspiracy beliefs.
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Subventions
Organisme : National Science Centre
ID : Opus grant (2019/35/B/HS6/00123)
Informations de copyright
© 2024 International Association of Applied Psychology.
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