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      Book

      The Psychology of Conspiracy
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      Book

      The Psychology of Conspiracy

      DOI link for The Psychology of Conspiracy

      The Psychology of Conspiracy book

      The Psychology of Conspiracy

      DOI link for The Psychology of Conspiracy

      The Psychology of Conspiracy book

      Edited ByMichal Bilewicz, Aleksandra Cichocka, Wiktor Soral
      Edition 1st Edition
      First Published 2015
      eBook Published 3 June 2015
      Pub. Location London
      Imprint Routledge
      DOI https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315746838
      Pages 222
      eBook ISBN 9781315746838
      Subjects Behavioral Sciences, Politics & International Relations, Social Sciences
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      Bilewicz, M., Cichocka, A., & Soral, W. (Eds.). (2015). The Psychology of Conspiracy (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315746838

      ABSTRACT

        • Why did the third World Trade Center building (WTC7) collapse on September 11th , even though it was not struck by any aircraft?
        • Why did Princess Diana’s "drunk" driver look sober as he climbed into the car minutes before their deadly accident?
        • Could a slender birch tree really have caused the plane crash which killed the President of Poland in 2010?

        ‘Conspiracy thinking’ – the search for explanations of significant global events in clandestine plots, suppressed knowledge and the secret actions of elite groups – provides simple and logical answers to the social doubts and uncertainties that occur at times of major national and international crises. Contemporary social psychology seeks to explain the human motivation to create, share and receive conspiracy theories, and to shed light on the consequences of these theories for people’s social and political functioning.

        This important collection, written by leading researchers in the field, is the first to apply quantitative empirical findings to the subject of conspiracy theorizing. The first section of the book explores conspiracy theories in the context of group perception and intergroup relations, paying particular attention to anti-Semitic conspiracy stereotypes. It then goes on to examine the relationship between an individual’s political ideology and the degree to which they engage in ‘conspiracy thinking’. The concluding part of the book considers the explanatory power of conspiracy, focusing on the link between social paranoia and digital media, and highlighting the social, political, and environmental consequences of conspiracy theories.

        The Psychology of Conspiracy will be of great interest to academics and researchers in social and political psychology, and a valuable resource to those in the fields of social policy, anthropology, political science, and cultural studies.

        TABLE OF CONTENTS

        part |2 pages

        PART I Conspiracy theories in group perception

        chapter 1|20 pages

        Conspiracy stereotypes: Their sociopsychological antecedents and consequences

        ByMichal Bilewicz, Grzegorz Sedek

        chapter 2|19 pages

        Conspiracy theories on the map of stereotype content: Survey and historical evidence

        ByMikolaj Winiewski, Wiktor Soral, Michal Bilewicz

        chapter 3|20 pages

        Grandiose delusions: Collective narcissism, secure in-group identification, and belief in conspiracies

        ByAleksandra Cichocka, Agnieszka Golec de Zavala, Marta Marchlewska, and Mateusz Olechowski

        chapter 4|15 pages

        Conspiracy theory as collective motivated cognition

        ByPéter Krekó

        part |2 pages

        PART II Conspiracy theories and ideology

        chapter 5|20 pages

        Mutual suspicion at the political extremes: How ideology predicts belief in conspiracy theories

        ByJan-Willem van Prooijen, André P. M. Krouwel

        chapter 6|23 pages

        Are the high authoritarians more prone to adopt conspiracy theories? The role of right-wing authoritarianism in conspiratorial thinking

        ByMonika Grzesiak-Feldman

        chapter 7|21 pages

        Beyond (right-wing) authoritarianism: Conspiracy mentality as an incremental predictor of prejudice

        ByRoland Imhoff

        part |2 pages

        PART III Conspiracy theories as explanatory structures

        chapter 8|17 pages

        Motivated roots of conspiracies: The role of certainty and control motives in conspiracy thinking

        ByMałgorzata Kossowska, Marcin Bukowski

        chapter 9|21 pages

        Behind the screen conspirators: Paranoid social cognition in an online age

        ByOlivier Klein, Nicolas Van der Linden, Myrto Pantazi, and Mikhail Kissine

        chapter 10|18 pages

        The social, political, environmental, and health-related consequences of conspiracy theories: Problems and potential solutions

        ByKaren M. Douglas, Robbie M. Sutton, Daniel Jolley, Michael J. Wood
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