ArticlePloS one2017
An examination of the factorial and convergent validity of four measures of conspiracist ideation, with recommendations for researchers.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 31 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Contemporary trends in psychological research on conspiracy beliefs. A systematic review.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Pooled it
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Psychological Research on Conspiracy Beliefs: Field Characteristics, Measurement Instruments, and Associations With Personality Traits.Frontiers in psychology · 2019Pooled it
- Examining the Effect of Message Framing and Demographic Traits on Public Support for a Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program.Sexual abuse : a journal of research and treatment · 2026Article
- Physical Activity, Body Appreciation, and Perceived Stress in Relation to Life Satisfaction Among University Students.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The hyper-systemizing hypothesis: how the tendency to systemize influences conspiracy beliefs and belief inflexibility in clinical and general populations.Cognitive processing · 2026Article
- Evaluating the psychometric properties of the Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale: a Rasch modelling approach.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Is there anything good about conspiracy beliefs? Belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories is associated with benefits to well-being.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- Leveraging artificial intelligence to identify the psychological factors associated with conspiracy theory beliefs online.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Openness buffers the impact of Belief in Conspiracy Theories on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: Evidence from a large, representative Italian sample.Personality and individual differences · 2023Article
- On modeling the correlates of conspiracy thinking.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Intention to Vaccinate against COVID-19 among Young Adults: The Role of Conspiratorial Thinking.Vaccines · 2023Article
- Conspiracy beliefs and COVID-19 guideline adherence in adolescent psychiatric outpatients: the predictive role of adverse childhood experiences.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2023Article
- Development and Validation of the Chinese Family Resilience Scale in Families in Hong Kong.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- The Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale-5: further psychometric evaluation using a United Kingdom-based sample.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- The impact of risk perceptions and belief in conspiracy theories on COVID-19 pandemic-related behaviours.PloS one · 2022Article
- A gateway conspiracy? Belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories prospectively predicts greater conspiracist ideation.PloS one · 2022Article
- Analytic Thinking and Political Orientation in the Corona Crisis.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Mistrust and Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories Differently Mediate the Effects of Psychological Factors on Propensity for COVID-19 Vaccine.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Dimensions of Misinformation About the HPV Vaccine on Instagram: Content and Network Analysis of Social Media Characteristics.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
A number scales have been developed to measure conspiracist ideation, but little attention has been paid to the factorial validity of these scales. We reassessed the psychometric properties of four widely-used scales, namely the Belief in Conspiracy Theories Inventory (BCTI), the Conspiracy Mentality Questionnaire (CMQ), the Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale (GCBS), and the One-Item Conspiracy Measure (OICM). Eight-hundred-and-three U.S. adults completed all measures, along with measures of endorsement of 9/11 and anti-vaccination conspiracy theories. Through both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, we found that only the BCTI had acceptable factorial validity. We failed to confirm the factor structures of the CMQ and the GBCS, suggesting these measures had poor factorial validity. Indices of convergent validity were acceptable for the BCTI, but weaker for the other measures. Based on these findings, we provide suggestions for the future refinement in the measurement of conspiracist ideation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.