Belief in conspiracy theories and intentions to engage in everyday crime

Jolley, Daniel; Douglas, Karen M.; Leite, Ana C.; Schrader, Tanya

Abstract

Belief in conspiracy theories is associated with negative outcomes such as political disengagement, prejudice, and environmental inaction. The current studies – one cross‐sectional (N = 253) and one experimental (N = 120) – tested the hypothesis that belief in conspiracy theories would increase intentions to engage in everyday crime. Study 1 demonstrated that belief in conspiracy theories predicted everyday crime behaviours when controlling for other known predictors of everyday crime (e.g., Honesty–Humility). Study 2 demonstrated that exposure to conspiracy theories (vs. control) increased intentions to engage in everyday crime in the future, through an increased feeling of anomie. The perception that others have conspired may therefore in some contexts lead to negative action rather than inaction.

Citation

Jolley, D., Douglas, K. M., Leite, A. C., & Schrader, T. (2019). Belief in conspiracy theories and intentions to engage in everyday crime. British Journal of Social Psychology, 58(3), 534-549. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12311

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 6, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jan 19, 2019
• Publication Date: 2019-07
• Deposit Date: Mar 10, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 11, 2022
• Journal: British Journal of Social Psychology
• Print ISSN: 0144-6665
• Electronic ISSN: 2044-8309
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 58
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 534-549
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12311
• Keywords: Social Psychology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7505258
• Publisher URL: https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjso.12311
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Jolley, D., Douglas, K.M., Leite, A.C. and Schrader, T. (2019), Belief in conspiracy theories and intentions to engage in everyday crime. Br. J. Soc. Psychol., 58: 534-549, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12311. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.