{"title":"Spite and Science-Denial: Exploring the Role of Spitefulness in Conspiracy Ideation and COVID-19 Conspiracy Beliefs","authors":"David S. Gordon, Megan E. Birney","doi":"10.1111/josi.12662","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Science denialism is at the heart of many conspiracy theory beliefs. We propose that such beliefs are manifestations of a distal social process: spite. In three pre-registered studies, we test the hypothesis that established predictors of these beliefs (epistemic, existential, and social motives) are specific cues of competitive disadvantage that provoke a common facultative “spiteful” psychological response, making a person more open to believing in conspiracy theories. Study 1 (<i>N</i> = 301; UK representative Prolific sample), found that spite mediated the relationship between realistic threat and in-group narcissism (social motives), political powerlessness (existential motive), and intolerance for uncertainty (epistemic motive), and conspiracy theory belief and COVID-19 conspiracies. This pattern was replicated in Study 2 (<i>N</i> = 405; UK representative Prolific sample). In Study 3 (<i>N</i> = 405; UK representative Prolific sample), we found that those who engaged in a spite-inducing task reported higher levels of spite which indirectly resulted in stronger beliefs in conspiracy theories. The overall pattern of results provides initial evidence that spite may play a role in why people engage with false information. Research and policy implications of these findings are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":17008,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Social Issues","volume":"81 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/josi.12662","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Social Issues","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/josi.12662","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Science denialism is at the heart of many conspiracy theory beliefs. We propose that such beliefs are manifestations of a distal social process: spite. In three pre-registered studies, we test the hypothesis that established predictors of these beliefs (epistemic, existential, and social motives) are specific cues of competitive disadvantage that provoke a common facultative “spiteful” psychological response, making a person more open to believing in conspiracy theories. Study 1 (N = 301; UK representative Prolific sample), found that spite mediated the relationship between realistic threat and in-group narcissism (social motives), political powerlessness (existential motive), and intolerance for uncertainty (epistemic motive), and conspiracy theory belief and COVID-19 conspiracies. This pattern was replicated in Study 2 (N = 405; UK representative Prolific sample). In Study 3 (N = 405; UK representative Prolific sample), we found that those who engaged in a spite-inducing task reported higher levels of spite which indirectly resulted in stronger beliefs in conspiracy theories. The overall pattern of results provides initial evidence that spite may play a role in why people engage with false information. Research and policy implications of these findings are discussed.
期刊介绍:
Published for The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), the Journal of Social Issues (JSI) brings behavioral and social science theory, empirical evidence, and practice to bear on human and social problems. Each issue of the journal focuses on a single topic - recent issues, for example, have addressed poverty, housing and health; privacy as a social and psychological concern; youth and violence; and the impact of social class on education.