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. 2020 Feb;111(1):17-35.
doi: 10.1111/bjop.12385. Epub 2019 Mar 13.

Exposure to intergroup conspiracy theories promotes prejudice which spreads across groups

Daniel Jolley  1 , Rose Meleady  2 , Karen M Douglas  3
Affiliations

Exposure to intergroup conspiracy theories promotes prejudice which spreads across groups

Daniel Jolley et al. Br J Psychol. 2020 Feb.

Abstract

This research experimentally examined the effects of exposure to intergroup conspiracy theories on prejudice and discrimination. Study 1 (N = 166) demonstrated that exposure to conspiracy theories concerning immigrants to Britain from the European Union (vs. anti-conspiracy material or a control) exacerbated prejudice towards this group. Study 2 (N = 173) found the same effect in a different intergroup context - exposure to conspiracy theories about Jewish people (vs. anti-conspiracy material or a control) increased prejudice towards this group and reduced participants' willingness to vote for a Jewish political candidate. Finally, Study 3 (N = 114) demonstrated that exposure to conspiracy theories about Jewish people not only increased prejudice towards this group but was indirectly associated with increased prejudice towards a number of secondary outgroups (e.g., Asians, Arabs, Americans, Irish, Australians). The current research suggests that conspiracy theories may have potentially damaging and widespread consequences for intergroup relations.

Keywords: conspiracy theories; discrimination; intergroup relations; prejudice.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A simple mediation test of conspiracy condition (D1, conspiracy versus anti‐conspiracy/conspiracy, versus D2, conspiracy versus conspiracy/anti‐conspiracy) on discrimination (DV) through prejudice towards Jewish people in Study 2 (MV) (N = 173; 5,000 bootstrap samples). Note. First number represents b statistic, and the second is the SE *p < .10. **p < .05. ***p < .001.
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