Conspiracy Beliefs As a Response to Adverse Societal Conditions: The Role of Low State Resilience, Low Societal Freedom, and High Cultural Tightness

Washington, DC · May 2025

Poster · Social

Maciej Siemiątkowski
University of Warsaw (Uniwersytet Warszawski)
Theofilos Gkinopoulos
Jagiellonian University
Michał Bilewicz
University of Warsaw

Abstract

Conspiracy beliefs are mostly described as individual maladaptive tendencies. Extending this approach, we highlight the role of macro-level deficits that induce conspiracy beliefs especially during crises. Multimodal data (N_total=51,953) showed that lower resilience and stricter cultural norms of a state and restricted societal freedoms of citizens predicted higher conspiracy beliefs.

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Conspiracy Beliefs As a Response to Adverse Societal Conditions: The Role of Low State Resilience, Low Societal Freedom, and High Cultural Tightness

Abstract

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