AUTHOR=Dagnall Neil, Drinkwater Kenneth, Parker Andrew, Denovan Andrew, Parton Megan
	 
TITLE=Conspiracy theory and cognitive style: a worldview  
	
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology     
	
VOLUME=6      
	
YEAR=2015
	
PAGES=206   
		
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00206     
	  
DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00206    
	
ISSN=1664-1078   

ABSTRACT=This paper assessed whether belief in conspiracy theories was associated with a particularly cognitive style (worldview). The sample comprised 223 volunteers recruited via convenience sampling and included undergraduates, postgraduates, university employees and alumni. Respondents completed measures assessing a range of cognitive-perceptual factors (schizotypy, delusional ideation and hallucination proneness) and conspiratorial beliefs (general attitudes towards conspiracist thinking and endorsement of individual conspiracies). Positive symptoms of schizotypy, particularly the cognitive-perceptual factor, correlated positively with conspiracist beliefs. The best predictor of belief in conspiracies was delusional ideation. Consistent with the notion of a coherent conspiratorial mindset, scores across conspiracy measures correlated strongly. Whilst findings supported the view that belief in conspiracies, within the sub-clinical population, was associated with a delusional thinking style, cognitive-perceptual factors in combination accounted for only 32% of the variance.