Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-8751
Authors: Frenken, Marius
Bilewicz, Michał
Imhoff, Roland
Title: On the relation between religiosity and the eEndorsement of conspiracy theories : the role of political orientation
Online publication date: 2-Feb-2023
Year of first publication: 2022
Language: english
Abstract: Religious and conspiracy beliefs share the feature of assuming powerful forces that determine the fate of the world. Correspondingly, they have been theorized to address similar psychological needs and to be based on similar cognitions, but there exist little authoritative answers about their relationship. We delineate two theory-driven possibilities. If conspiracy theories and religions serve as surrogates for each other by fulfilling similar needs, the two beliefs should be negatively correlated. If conspiracy and religious beliefs stem from the same values and cognitions, this would speak for a positive correlation that might be diminished—for example—by controlling for shared political ideologies. We approached the question with a meta-analysis (N = 10,242), partial correlations from large Christian-dominated datasets from Germany, Poland, and the United States (N = 12,612), and a preregistered U.S. study (N = 500). The results indicate that the correlations between religiosity and conspiracy theory endorsement were positive, and political orientation shared large parts of this covariance. Correlations of religiosity with the more need-related conspiracy mentality differed between countries. We conclude that similarities in the explanatory style and ideologies seem to be central for the relation between intrinsic religiosity and endorsing conspiracy theories, but psychological needs only play a minor role.
DDC: 150 Psychologie
150 Psychology
Institution: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Department: FB 02 Sozialwiss., Medien u. Sport
Place: Mainz
ROR: https://ror.org/023b0x485
DOI: http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-8751
Version: Published version
Publication type: Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Document type specification: Scientific article
License: CC BY-NC
Information on rights of use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Journal: Political psychology
44
1
Pages or article number: 139
156
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Publisher place: Oxford
Issue date: 2022
ISSN: 1467-9221
Publisher DOI: 10.1111/pops.12822
Appears in collections:DFG-491381577-H

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