Does belief in superficially contradictory conspiracy theories stem from a general core belief?

Abstract

Studies on the belief in conspiracy theories have shown that the superficially contradictory conspiracy theories are endorsed simultaneously and that the core belief of the conspiracy theories mediates this association (e.g., Wood et al., 2012). In this study, we conducted a pre-registered follow-up study to examine the universality of findings across cultures and the possibility of extending the previous findings to conspiracy theories that have a different structure of contradictions. The results from this study, which involved a total of 835 participants randomly assigned to one of four different cover stories, were generally in line with our prediction showing positive correlations between contradictory conspiracy theories, but also showed that association between contradictory beliefs could not be fully explained by the influence of the core belief on each of contradictory conspiracy theories. This may suggest that not all individual conspiracy theories are derivatives arising from the core conspiracy belief.