{"database":"biostudies-literature","file_versions":[],"scores":null,"additional":{"submitter":["Granados Samayoa JA"],"funding":["National Science Foundation"],"pagination":["e0275502"],"full_dataset_link":["https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9604008"],"repository":["biostudies-literature"],"omics_type":["Unknown"],"volume":["17(10)"],"pubmed_abstract":["A primary focus of research on conspiracy theories has been understanding the psychological characteristics that predict people's level of conspiracist ideation. However, the dynamics of conspiracist ideation-i.e., how such tendencies change over time-are not well understood. To help fill this gap in the literature, we used data from two longitudinal studies (Study 1 N = 107; Study 2 N = 1,037) conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that greater belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories at baseline predicts both greater endorsement of a novel real-world conspiracy theory involving voter fraud in the 2020 American Presidential election (Study 1) and increases in generic conspiracist ideation over a period of several months (Studies 1 and 2). Thus, engaging with real-world conspiracy theories appears to act as a gateway, leading to more general increases in conspiracist ideation. Beyond enhancing our knowledge of conspiracist ideation, this work highlights the importance of fighting the spread of conspiracy theories."],"journal":["PloS one"],"pubmed_title":["A gateway conspiracy? Belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories prospectively predicts greater conspiracist ideation."],"pmcid":["PMC9604008"],"funding_grant_id":["BCS-2031097"],"pubmed_authors":["Moore CA","Ladanyi JT","Granados Samayoa JA","Fazio RH","Ruisch BC","Boggs ST"],"additional_accession":[]},"is_claimable":false,"name":"A gateway conspiracy? Belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories prospectively predicts greater conspiracist ideation.","description":"A primary focus of research on conspiracy theories has been understanding the psychological characteristics that predict people's level of conspiracist ideation. However, the dynamics of conspiracist ideation-i.e., how such tendencies change over time-are not well understood. To help fill this gap in the literature, we used data from two longitudinal studies (Study 1 N = 107; Study 2 N = 1,037) conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that greater belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories at baseline predicts both greater endorsement of a novel real-world conspiracy theory involving voter fraud in the 2020 American Presidential election (Study 1) and increases in generic conspiracist ideation over a period of several months (Studies 1 and 2). Thus, engaging with real-world conspiracy theories appears to act as a gateway, leading to more general increases in conspiracist ideation. Beyond enhancing our knowledge of conspiracist ideation, this work highlights the importance of fighting the spread of conspiracy theories.","dates":{"release":"2022-01-01T00:00:00Z","publication":"2022","modification":"2025-04-19T12:04:04.161Z","creation":"2025-04-19T12:04:04.161Z"},"accession":"S-EPMC9604008","cross_references":{"pubmed":["36288276"],"doi":["10.1371/journal.pone.0275502"]}}