Conspiracy belief and the willful ignorance of information

Abstract

The idea that conspiracy believers are prone to willful ignorance is widespread, yet many seemingly supporting studies lack designs suited to test this claim. Emerging research that actually examines willful ignorance along the information processing stream provides a more nuanced and optimistic picture. While there is initial (though limited) evidence that conspiracy believers are less likely to engage with facts in the first place, there is only little support for willful ignorance upon confrontation with such information. That is, conspiracy believers are no more likely to reject fact-based and normative information (but potentially more likely to value conspiratorial information) and are as likely as others to adapt their judgements and decisions accordingly. However, differences between generalized and specific conspiracy beliefs emerged that need to be considered in the design and timing of informational interventions that aim to reduce the potentially negative consequences of conspiracy beliefs.