ArticlePloS one2022
Why conspiracy theorists are not always paranoid: Conspiracy theories and paranoia form separate factors with distinct psychological predictors.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed.
- Advice-taking in carbon footprint assessments: How psychological and cultural factors shape reliance on experts' advice.British journal of psychology (London, England : 1953) · 2026Article
- Does Lower Psychological Need Satisfaction Foster Conspiracy Belief? Longitudinal Effects Over 3 Years in New Zealand.Personality & social psychology bulletin · 2026Article
- Exploring the Relationship Between Conspiracy Theory Beliefs and Adherence to Government Guidelines During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Perceived Control and Trust in Social Media and Traditional Sources of Information.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Are people noticing excessive mistrust in others and how do they understand it? A survey of a UK representative adult population.Psychological medicine · 2025Article
- Testing the persuasiveness of conspiracy theories: a comparison of narrative and argumentative strategies.Cognitive processing · 2025Article
- Owners of a conspiratorial heart? Investigating the longitudinal relationship between loneliness and conspiracy beliefs.The British journal of social psychology · 2025Article
- Loneliness and delusion-like experiences among women: Mediating role of procrastination and boredom proneness.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- Loneliness trajectories over three decades are associated with conspiracist worldviews in midlife.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Connecting loneliness with pathological personality traits: Evidence for genetic and environmental mediation from a study of older twins.Personality disorders · 2024Article
- Differentiating paranoia and conspiracy mentality using a network approach.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Assumed shared belief about conspiracy theories in social networks protects paranoid individuals against distress.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Individual, intergroup and nation-level influences on belief in conspiracy theories.Nature reviews psychology · 2023Review
- Conspiracy mentality, subclinical paranoia, and political conservatism are associated with perceived status threat.PloS one · 2023Article
- Loneliness in Personality Disorders.Current psychiatry reports · 2022Review
- Paranoid beliefs and conspiracy mentality are associated with different forms of mistrust: A three-nation study.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Paranoia and belief in conspiracy theories both involve suspiciousness about the intentions of others but have rarely been studied together. In three studies, one with a mainly student sample (N = 496) and two with more representative UK population samples (N = 1,519, N = 638) we compared single and two-factor models of paranoia and conspiracy theories as well as associations between both belief systems and other psychological constructs. A model with two correlated factors was the best fit in all studies. Both belief systems were associated with poor locus of control (belief in powerful others and chance) and loneliness. Paranoid beliefs were specifically associated with negative self-esteem and, in two studies, insecure attachment; conspiracy theories were associated with positive self-esteem in the two larger studies and narcissistic personality traits in the final study. Conspiracist thinking but not paranoia was associated with poor performance on the Cognitive Reflection Task (poor analytical thinking). The findings suggest that paranoia and belief in conspiracy theories are distinct but correlated belief systems with both common and specific psychological components.
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