Intention Seekers: Conspiracist Ideation and Biased Attributions of Intentionality

PLoS One

Robert Brotherton¹  Christopher C. French¹ 

[1]Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, United Kingdom

关键词: Psychology;    Sense of agency;    Normal distribution;    Cognition;    Cognitive psychology;    Instinct;    Research validity;    Undergraduates;   

DOI  :  10.1371/journal.pone.0124125

学科分类：医学（综合）

来源: Public Library of Science

【 摘 要 】

Conspiracist beliefs are widespread and potentially hazardous. A growing body of research suggests that cognitive biases may play a role in endorsement of conspiracy theories. The current research examines the novel hypothesis that individuals who are biased towards inferring intentional explanations for ambiguous actions are more likely to endorse conspiracy theories, which portray events as the exclusive product of intentional agency. Study 1 replicated a previously observed relationship between conspiracist ideation and individual differences in anthropomorphisation. Studies 2 and 3 report a relationship between conspiracism and inferences of intentionality for imagined ambiguous events. Additionally, Study 3 again found conspiracist ideation to be predicted by individual differences in anthropomorphism. Contrary to expectations, however, the relationship was not mediated by the intentionality bias. The findings are discussed in terms of a domain-general intentionality bias making conspiracy theories appear particularly plausible. Alternative explanations are suggested for the association between conspiracism and anthropomorphism.

【 授权许可】

CC BY