Increased conspiracy beliefs among ethnic and Muslim minorities

In the present study, we tested whether Muslim minority members are more susceptible to conspiracy theories than majority members in the Netherlands. We examined conspiracy theories that are relevant (portraying the Muslim community as victim or Jewish people as perpetrators) and irrelevant for participants' Muslim identity (about the 2007 financial crisis, and other theories such as that the moon landings were fake). Results revealed that Muslims believed both identity‐relevant and irrelevant conspiracy theories more strongly than non‐Muslims. These differences could not be attributed to the contents of Muslim faith: Ethnic minority status exerted similar effects independent of Muslim identity. Instead, evidence suggested that feelings of both personal and group‐based deprivation independently contribute to belief in conspiracy theories. We conclude that feelings of deprivation lead marginalized minority members to perceive the social and political system as rigged, stimulating belief in both identity‐relevant and irrelevant conspiracy theories.     

On the Ratio Challenge for Comparativism

This paper discusses a challenge for comparativists about belief, who hold that numerical degree of belief (in particular, subjective probability) is a useful fiction, unlike comparative belief, which they regard as real. The challenge is to make sense of claims like ‘I am twice as confident in A as in B’ in terms of comparative belief only. After showing that at least some comparativists can meet this challenge, I discuss implications for Zynda's [2000] and Stefánsson's [2017] defences of comparativism.     

The entertainment value of conspiracy theories

Many citizens around the globe believe conspiracy theories. Why are conspiracy theories so appealing? Here, we propose that conspiracy theories elicit intense emotions independent of emotional valence. People therefore find conspiracy theories entertaining – that is, narratives that people perceive as interesting, exciting, and attention-grabbing – and such entertainment appraisals are positively associated with belief in them. Five studies supported these ideas. Participants were exposed to either a conspiratorial or a non-conspiratorial text about the Notre Dame fire (Study 1) or the death of Jeffrey Epstein (preregistered Study 2). The conspiratorial text elicited stronger entertainment appraisals and intense emotions (independent of emotional valence) than the non-conspiratorial text; moreover, entertainment appraisals mediated the effects of the manipulation on conspiracy beliefs. Study 3 indicated that participants endorsed stronger conspiracy beliefs when an election event was described in an entertaining rather than a boring manner. Subsequent findings revealed that both organisational (Study 4) and societal conspiracy beliefs (Study 5) are positively associated with sensation seeking – a trait characterised by a preference for exciting and intense experiences. We conclude that one reason why people believe conspiracy theories is because they find them entertaining.     

共产主义信念对道德认知的影响及认知机制

基于五个实验研究联合使用单类内隐联想范式与概念启动范式,探讨了共产主义信念与道德认知的关系及其认知机制。结果显示:(1)共产主义信念与道德在概念层面具有相容性;(2)在阈上、阈下水平启动共产主义信念均能够显著促进道德概念判断;(3)共产主义信念促进道德判断的启动效应呈现累积趋势,符合证据累积模型,而在词汇决定任务下未出现概念的扩散激活效应,不符合扩散激活模型。系列研究表明,新时代中国特色社会主义背景下,共产主义信念与道德认知产生了显著地关联,共产主义信念启动能够促进道德判断,且共产主义信念促进道德判断的启动效应并不是发生在语义层面,而是知觉层面。     

心理虐待与忽视对志愿投入的影响:链式中介效应分析

本研究根据道德认同模型与亲社会行为理论,以808名大学生志愿者为被试,通过问卷调查探索心理虐待与忽视对志愿投入的影响机制。结果发现:心理虐待与忽视对志愿投入的影响主要由公正世界信念与道德认同的中介作用来实现。本研究揭示了心理虐待与忽视与志愿投入的关系及内在机制,丰富了公正世界信念和道德认同的相关研究。     

The cognitive processes underlying false beliefs

Why do consumers sometimes fall for spurious claims—for example, brain training games that prevent cognitive decline, toning sneakers that sculpt one's body, flower essence that cures depression—and how can consumers protect themselves in the modern world where information is shared quickly and easily? As cognitive scientists, we view this problem through the lens of what we know, more generally, about how people evaluate information for its veracity, and how people update their beliefs. That is, the same processes that support true belief can also encourage people to sometimes believe misleading or false information. Anchoring on the large literature on truth and belief updating allows predictions about consumer behavior; it also highlights possible solutions while casting doubt on other possible responses to misleading communications.     

数字生态系统中创业机会的形成与发展：基于社会资本理论的探究

数字创业浪潮方兴未艾, 机会属性变化引起的数字创业机会形成与变化规律尚未被揭示。本研究以数字生态系统作为研究情境, 分析创业者利用数字生态系统可供性积累的社会资本, 如何影响创业机会形成与发展。从机会的合意性维度和内容维度两方面解释创业机会的变化规律, 考察创业者认知监控与新创企业数字化程度对这一路径的调节作用。本研究拓展社会资本理论在数字创业背景下的应用, 深化数字生态系统中的创业机会研究, 有助于指导创业者利用数字平台开展“破坏性创造”, 提升机会识别质量和效率, 促进创业生态系统建设。     

Religion and the Acceptability of White‐Collar Crime: A Cross‐National Analysis

This article examines whether shared religious beliefs and religious social relationships (Durkheim) and belief in a personal, moral God (Stark) negatively affect attitudes toward the acceptability of white‐collar crime. In addition, using a large cross‐national sample and estimating multilevel models, we test whether effects are conditional on modernization and religious contexts characterized by belief in an impersonal or amoral God. Shared religious beliefs and the importance of God in one's life are negatively related to the acceptability of white‐collar crime. These effects, however, weaken in religious contexts characterized by belief in an impersonal or amoral God as do the effects of religious social relationships and belonging to a religious organization; modernization, on the other hand, does not have a moderating effect. In short, religious belief is associated with lower acceptance of white‐collar crime and certain types of religious contexts condition this relationship.     

In search of an imaginary enemy: Catholic collective narcissism and the endorsement of gender conspiracy beliefs

ABSTRACT

Gender studies have often been criticized for undermining family and religious values. In this paper, we argue that these criticisms exhibit the characteristics of conspiracy theories. We define gender conspiracy beliefs as convictions that gender studies and gender-equality activists represent an ideology secretly designed to harm traditional values and social arrangements. In two studies conducted among Catholics in Poland (Study 1 N= 1019; Study 2 N= 223), we examined the prevalence of gender conspiracy beliefs and their psychological concomitants. We hypothesized that gender conspiracy beliefs should be associated with a defensive identification with one’s religious group, captured by religious collective narcissism. In both studies, Catholic collective narcissism was demonstrated to be a robust predictor of gender conspiracy beliefs. We additionally demonstrated that Catholic collective narcissism predicted outgroup hostility, and this effect was mediated by gender conspiracy beliefs. We discuss the implications for gender-based prejudice.     

Descartes on Life and Sense

My aim…is to show that the celestial machine is likened not to a kind of divine living being but rather to a clockwork. (Kepler, 1605) I consider the human body to be a machine…(Descartes, 1641)