Conspiracy theories as quasi-religious mentality

An Integrated Account From Cognitive Science, Social Representations Theory, and Frame Theory

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5851979
AutoresB Franks (0000-0002-6667-6172, London School of Economics and Political Science), Adrian Bangerter (0000-0003-3622-1860), Martin W Bauer (0000-0002-0800-8133, London School of Economics and Political Science)
Año2013
Volumen4
Fecha de publicación2013-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaFrontiers in Psychology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1664-1078 • E-ISSN: 1664-1078
EditorialFrontiers Media (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00424
PMID23882235
PMCIDPMC3712257
OpenAlexW2116168314
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas80
Referencias citadas64

Conspiracy theories (CTs) can take many forms and vary widely in popularity, the intensity with which they are believed and their effects on individual and collective behavior. An integrated account of CTs thus needs to explain how they come to appeal to potential believers, how they spread from one person to the next via communication, and how they motivate collective action. We summarize these aspects under the labels of stick, spread, and action. We propose the quasi-religious hypothesis for CTs: drawing on cognitive science of religion, social representations theory, and frame theory. We use cognitive science of religion to describe the main features of the content of CTs that explain how they come to stick: CTs are quasi-religious representations in that their contents, forms and functions parallel those found in beliefs of institutionalized religions. However, CTs are quasi-religious in that CTs and the communities that support them, lack many of the institutional features of organized religions. We use social representations theory to explain how CTs spread as devices for making sense of sudden events that threaten existing worldviews. CTs allow laypersons to interpret such events by relating them to common sense, thereby defusing some of the anxiety that those events generate. We use frame theory to explain how some, but not all CTs mobilize collective counter-conspiratorial action by identifying a target and by proposing credible and concrete rationales for action. We specify our integrated account in 13 propositions

Collective action · Frame analysis · Popularity · Relational frame theory · Social cognitive theory · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology