The motivations and reputational consequences of spreading conspiracy theories

IF 3.2 2区心理学 Q1 PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL

British Journal of Social Psychology Pub Date : 2024-07-06 DOI:10.1111/bjso.12784

Shen Cao, Jan-Willem van Prooijen, Mark van Vugt

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Some people deliberately spread conspiracy theories. What are the reputational benefits and costs of doing so? The Adaptive-Conspiracism hypothesis proposes that it pays to be vigilant against possible conspiracies, especially in case of intergroup threat. Those who spread conspiracy theories may therefore be seen as valuable group members. Few studies have focused on the reputational impact of spreading a conspiracy theory. We conducted five studies (N_Pilot = 303; N_Study1 = 388; N_Study2 = 560; N_Study3 = 391; N_Study4 = 373) where participants rated a conspiracy spreader (vs. a neutral person) on a range of personality traits in different intergroup contexts. The results indicated that conspiracy spreaders were consistently perceived as more dominant and less warm than people making non-conspiratorial claims about certain events. Moreover, intergroup conflict attenuated the negative effects of spreading conspiracy theories on competence and warmth. These findings support the notion that besides drawbacks, spreading conspiracy theories can have benefits for the spreader's reputation, particularly during an intergroup conflict.

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传播阴谋论的动机和声誉后果。

有些人故意散布阴谋论。这样做的声誉收益和成本是什么？适应性-阴谋论假说认为，对可能存在的阴谋保持警惕是有好处的，尤其是在群体间存在威胁的情况下。因此，传播阴谋论的人可能被视为有价值的群体成员。很少有研究关注传播阴谋论对声誉的影响。我们进行了五项研究（NPilot = 303；NStudy1 = 388；NStudy2 = 560；NStudy3 = 391；NStudy4 = 373），让参与者在不同的群体间情境中对阴谋论传播者（与中立者相比）的一系列人格特质进行评分。结果表明，与对某些事件发表非阴谋论的人相比，阴谋论传播者一直被认为更有支配力，更不热情。此外，群体间冲突削弱了传播阴谋论对能力和热情的负面影响。这些发现支持了这样一种观点，即传播阴谋论除了会带来弊端外，还能为传播者的声誉带来好处，尤其是在群体间冲突期间。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

British Journal of Social Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL-

CiteScore

9.50

自引率

7.40%

发文量

期刊介绍： The British Journal of Social Psychology publishes work from scholars based in all parts of the world, and manuscripts that present data on a wide range of populations inside and outside the UK. It publishes original papers in all areas of social psychology including: • social cognition • attitudes • group processes • social influence • intergroup relations • self and identity • nonverbal communication • social psychological aspects of personality, affect and emotion • language and discourse Submissions addressing these topics from a variety of approaches and methods, both quantitative and qualitative are welcomed. We publish papers of the following kinds: • empirical papers that address theoretical issues; • theoretical papers, including analyses of existing social psychological theories and presentations of theoretical innovations, extensions, or integrations; • review papers that provide an evaluation of work within a given area of social psychology and that present proposals for further research in that area; • methodological papers concerning issues that are particularly relevant to a wide range of social psychologists; • an invited agenda article as the first article in the first part of every volume. The editorial team aims to handle papers as efficiently as possible. In 2016, papers were triaged within less than a week, and the average turnaround time from receipt of the manuscript to first decision sent back to the authors was 47 days.