ArticleThe British journal of social psychology2023
Of precarity and conspiracy: Introducing a socio-functional model of conspiracy beliefs.
Article in The British journal of social psychology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- Longitudinal analysis shows possible distinct patterns of associations between conspiracy beliefs and either institutional distrust or the sense of precarity.The British journal of social psychology · 2026Article
- Understanding Unrest: Conspiracy Belief and Violent Radicalization Patterns in Young People During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Netherlands.European journal on criminal policy and research · 2026Article
- Please reduce the gap! How psychological distance to politics fuels belief in conspiracy theories.The British journal of social psychology · 2026Article
- Article
- Victims of Conspiracies? An Examination of the Relationship Between Conspiracy Beliefs and Dispositional Individual Victimhood.European journal of social psychology · 2025Article
- How belief in conspiracy theories could harm sustainability.Nature human behaviour · 2025Review
- Anti-immigration conspiracy beliefs are associated with endorsement of conventional and violent actions opposing immigration and attitudes towards democracy across 21 countries.Communications psychology · 2025Article
- Owners of a conspiratorial heart? Investigating the longitudinal relationship between loneliness and conspiracy beliefs.The British journal of social psychology · 2025Article
- Variability and Belief in Karma: Perceived Life Variability Polarizes Perceptions of Behavior-Outcome Valence Consistency.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Understanding Belief-Behavior Correspondence: Beliefs and Belief-to-Behavior Inferences.Psychological inquiry · 2025Article
- Retrospective Analysis of the Psychological Predictors of Public Health Support in Bulgarians at the Beginning of the Coronavirus Pandemic.Brain sciences · 2023Article
- Of precarity and conspiracy: Introducing a socio-functional model of conspiracy beliefs.The British journal of social psychology · 2023Article
- Prec(ar)ious knowledge and the neoliberal academy: Towards re-imagining epistemic justice and critical psychology.The British journal of social psychology · 2023Article
- Towards a social psychology of precarity.The British journal of social psychology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Conspiracy Beliefs (CB) are a key vector of violent extremism, radicalism and unconventional political events. So far, social-psychological research has extensively documented how cognitive, emotional and intergroup factors can promote CB. Evidence also suggests that adherence to CB moves along social class lines: low-income and low-education are among the most robust predictors of CB. Yet, the potential role of precarity-the subjective experience of permanent insecurity stemming from objective material strain-in shaping CB remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we propose for the first time a socio-functional model of CB. We test the hypothesis that precarity could foster increased CB because it undermines trust in government and the broader political 'elites'. Data from the World Value Survey (n = 21,650; Study 1, electoral CB) and from representative samples from polls conducted in France (n = 1760, Study 2a, conspiracy mentality) and Italy (n = 2196, Study 2b, COVID-19 CB), corroborate a mediation model whereby precarity is directly and indirectly associated with lower trust in authorities and higher CB. In addition, these links are robust to adjustment on income, self-reported SES and education. Considering precarity allows for a truly social-psychological understanding of CB as the by-product of structural issues (e.g. growing inequalities). Results from our socio-functional model suggest that implementing solutions at the socio-economic level could prove efficient in fighting CB.
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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.