HRPYC81 Project 5 Assignment 2 2026
DUE 5 MAY 2026
Research Project: The Psychology of Conspiracy Beliefs
Research Area
General Psychology
Number of Students
Limited to 400 students
1. Conceptualising Conspiracy Beliefs as a Psychological Experience
Researchers conceptualise conspiracy beliefs as the conviction that a group of powerful
actors is secretly working together to achieve a malevolent goal (Douglas et al., 2019).
Despite variations in disciplinary focus, several core dimensions consistently reappear.
, Commonalities across definitions include the perception of pattern (causal connections
between otherwise unrelated events), agency (deliberate, intentional actions by
conspirators), coalition (a group working in concert), threat (harmful or deceptive
objectives), and secrecy (the plan is concealed from the public) (van Prooijen & van
Vugt, 2018). These elements form a nomological network that distinguishes conspiracy
theories from simple misunderstandings or rumours.
Differences in conceptualisation often concern which dimension is emphasised. For
instance, cognitive accounts foreground pattern perception and agency detection
(Brotherton et al., 2013), whereas motivational perspectives stress the need for control
and meaning in the face of threat (Douglas et al., 2017). Some researchers treat
conspiracy beliefs as a generalised worldview, the so‑called conspiracy mentality a
stable disposition to assume conspiratorial explanations for events (Imhoff & Bruder,
2014). Others examine belief in specific conspiracy theories e.g. 9/11, HIV‑denialism)
and the psychological functions these serve.
A workable definition, synthesising the literature, is: Conspiracy beliefs are explanatory
beliefs that attribute the ultimate cause of an event or situation to a secret, malevolent
plot by a coalition of powerful actors, which persist despite a lack of credible evidence
(Douglas et al., 2019). This definition captures the hybrid nature of conspiracy theories
as both cognitive schemas and motivated social narratives.
DUE 5 MAY 2026
Research Project: The Psychology of Conspiracy Beliefs
Research Area
General Psychology
Number of Students
Limited to 400 students
1. Conceptualising Conspiracy Beliefs as a Psychological Experience
Researchers conceptualise conspiracy beliefs as the conviction that a group of powerful
actors is secretly working together to achieve a malevolent goal (Douglas et al., 2019).
Despite variations in disciplinary focus, several core dimensions consistently reappear.
, Commonalities across definitions include the perception of pattern (causal connections
between otherwise unrelated events), agency (deliberate, intentional actions by
conspirators), coalition (a group working in concert), threat (harmful or deceptive
objectives), and secrecy (the plan is concealed from the public) (van Prooijen & van
Vugt, 2018). These elements form a nomological network that distinguishes conspiracy
theories from simple misunderstandings or rumours.
Differences in conceptualisation often concern which dimension is emphasised. For
instance, cognitive accounts foreground pattern perception and agency detection
(Brotherton et al., 2013), whereas motivational perspectives stress the need for control
and meaning in the face of threat (Douglas et al., 2017). Some researchers treat
conspiracy beliefs as a generalised worldview, the so‑called conspiracy mentality a
stable disposition to assume conspiratorial explanations for events (Imhoff & Bruder,
2014). Others examine belief in specific conspiracy theories e.g. 9/11, HIV‑denialism)
and the psychological functions these serve.
A workable definition, synthesising the literature, is: Conspiracy beliefs are explanatory
beliefs that attribute the ultimate cause of an event or situation to a secret, malevolent
plot by a coalition of powerful actors, which persist despite a lack of credible evidence
(Douglas et al., 2019). This definition captures the hybrid nature of conspiracy theories
as both cognitive schemas and motivated social narratives.
