ArticlePloS one2022
Have beliefs in conspiracy theories increased over time?
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 18 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Dual Impact of Believing and Spreading Conspiracy Theories: Independent and Interactive Effects on Social Perceptions and Orientations.Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006) · 2026Article
- The hyper-systemizing hypothesis: how the tendency to systemize influences conspiracy beliefs and belief inflexibility in clinical and general populations.Cognitive processing · 2026Article
- Does Lower Psychological Need Satisfaction Foster Conspiracy Belief? Longitudinal Effects Over 3 Years in New Zealand.Personality & social psychology bulletin · 2026Article
- Associations of Childhood Trauma with Paranoia and Conspiracy Thinking Among Young Adults: Exploring the Indirect Role of Attachment Styles.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Explaining is not enough: Appealing explanations should also be surprising.Psychonomic bulletin & review · 2026Article
- Leave the world(view) behind, but keep the words: The effect of conspiracism on writing.PloS one · 2026Article
- Conspiratorial thinking in a 50-state survey of American adults.Journal of affective disorders · 2025Article
- Application of the actor-partner interdependence model to understand COVID-19 vaccine decision-making among US adolescents and their parents.American journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- How belief in conspiracy theories could harm sustainability.Nature human behaviour · 2025Review
- Conspiracy beliefs predict perceptions of procedural justice.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- The protective power of dissent? A longitudinal study on cognitive and socio-emotional determinants of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among young people in Canada.Transcultural psychiatry · 2024Article
- Association between beliefs in medical conspiracy theories and health behaviors among medical and healthcare students. Implications for professional practice.BMC medical education · 2024Article
- The sociodemographic correlates of conspiracism.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- People do change their beliefs about conspiracy theories-but not often.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- The role of conspiracy mindset in reducing support for child vaccination for COVID-19 in the United States.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Individual, intergroup and nation-level influences on belief in conspiracy theories.Nature reviews psychology · 2023Review
- Conspiracy thinking and the long historical shadow of Romanticism on authoritarian politics.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The public is convinced that beliefs in conspiracy theories are increasing, and many scholars, journalists, and policymakers agree. Given the associations between conspiracy theories and many non-normative tendencies, lawmakers have called for policies to address these increases. However, little evidence has been provided to demonstrate that beliefs in conspiracy theories have, in fact, increased over time. We address this evidentiary gap. Study 1 investigates change in the proportion of Americans believing 46 conspiracy theories; our observations in some instances span half a century. Study 2 examines change in the proportion of individuals across six European countries believing six conspiracy theories. Study 3 traces beliefs about which groups are conspiring against "us," while Study 4 tracks generalized conspiracy thinking in the U.S. from 2012 to 2021. In no instance do we observe systematic evidence for an increase in conspiracism, however operationalized. We discuss the theoretical and policy implications of our findings.
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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.