Conspiracy Belief as a Coping Strategy: An Attachment Theory Perspective

阴谋论作为一种应对策略：依恋理论的视角

• 批准号: 2117778
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Kent
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2018 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2117778
• 关键词: Conspiracy; Belief; Coping; Strategy; Attachment

Conspiracy theories explain significant events as the actions of secretive and powerful groups. They are both popular and consequential, influencing people's decisions to vote, vaccinate their children, and reduce their carbon footprint (1). A recent theoretical perspective on why people adopt conspiracy theories proposes that they do so to meet important psychological needs, including the needs for security and control (2). That is, people appear to turn to conspiracy theories in an attempt to restore security and control by, for example, believing that they are in possession of knowledge that other people do not have (3). However, little is known about the specific mechanisms that link psychological needs to the adoption of conspiracy theories. Also, little is known about whether or not adopting conspiracy theories is a strategy that works, and if people do indeed feel better when they adopt them. These questions are the focus of the current research.The research focuses specifically on the psychological needs for security and control that arise as a result of different attachment styles (4), and whether or not these needs are met by conspiracy theories. My research has shown that for people who have an insecure attachment style, and in particular for those who are anxiously attached, but not avoidant or securely attached, conspiracy theories appear to be particularly appealing (5). We aim to build on this finding in two strands of research.The first strand will examine why anxiously attached people are drawn to conspiracy theories. One possibility is that such people have a tendency to exaggerate threats to gain attention and support (6), whereas people who have avoidant or secure attachment style do not. This possible explanation will be the focus of a first study (complete by Dec 2018). We will measure attachment styles and belief in conspiracy theories using established scales, and threat exaggeration using items designed for this study. For instance, the items will list threatening scenarios (e.g., being the victim of online fraud) and participants will be asked to report the likelihood that these threatening events will befall them. We predict that anxious attachment will positively predict conspiracy belief (4), and that anxious attachment will predict threat exaggeration (6). We further predict that threat exaggeration will positively predict conspiracy belief and that it will also mediate the relationship between anxious attachment and conspiracy belief. Subsequent studies (especially if results in Study 1 are null or inconclusive) will examine other mechanisms that could explain the relationship between attachment styles and conspiracy belief, such as lack of control, powerlessness, and uncertainty about the future (Jul 2019).The second strand will focus on the success of conspiracy beliefs as a means to cope with the challenges posed by insecure attachment. To begin, a correlational study will measure conspiracy belief, attachment style, and a variety of coping strategies to examine the extent to which conspiracy belief and insecure attachment predict the same coping strategies (Dec 2019). Experimental studies will then manipulate attachment style (e.g., by priming a secure base schema) to establish a causal relationship between attachment style, conspiracy belief, and coping strategies (Jul 2020). Finally, we will examine in subsequent studies whether conspiracy theories make insecurely attached people feel better by measuring attachment, manipulating exposure to conspiracy theories, and measuring a variety of indices of wellbeing (Feb 2021).In each study, we will conduct power analyses to obtain sufficient samples, and aim to recruit participants from a range of sources including crowdsourcing, the RPS, and representative samples by collaborating with other researchers to collect data from large panels.

阴谋论将重大事件解释为秘密而强大的团体的行动。它们既受欢迎又重要，影响人们投票，为孩子接种疫苗和减少碳足迹的决定。最近关于人们为什么采用阴谋论的理论观点认为，他们这样做是为了满足重要的心理需求，包括安全和控制的需求。也就是说，人们似乎转向阴谋论，试图通过相信自己拥有其他人不拥有的知识来恢复安全和控制（3）。然而，人们对将心理需求与采纳阴谋论联系起来的具体机制知之甚少。此外，人们对采用阴谋论是否是一种有效的策略知之甚少，以及人们在采用阴谋论时是否确实感觉更好。这些问题是当前研究的焦点。研究特别关注不同依恋类型引起的安全和控制的心理需求，以及这些需求是否通过阴谋论得到满足。我的研究表明，对于那些有不安全依恋风格的人，特别是那些焦虑依恋的人，但不是回避型或安全型依恋，阴谋论似乎特别有吸引力（5）。我们打算在这一发现的基础上进行两方面的研究：第一方面将研究为什么焦虑的人会被阴谋论所吸引。一种可能性是，这些人倾向于夸大威胁以获得关注和支持（6），而具有回避型或安全型依恋风格的人则没有。这种可能的解释将是第一项研究的重点（2018年12月完成）。我们将使用已建立的量表测量依恋风格和对阴谋论的信念，并使用为本研究设计的项目测量威胁夸大。例如，这些项目将列出威胁场景（例如，成为网上诈骗的受害者），参与者将被要求报告这些威胁事件将降临他们的可能性。我们预测焦虑依恋会积极预测阴谋信念（4），焦虑依恋会预测威胁夸大（6）。我们进一步预测，威胁夸大将积极预测阴谋信念，它也将中介焦虑依恋和阴谋信念之间的关系。随后的研究（特别是如果研究1的结果是无效或不确定的）将研究其他可以解释依恋风格和阴谋信念之间关系的机制，例如缺乏控制，无能为力，对未来的不确定性（2019年7月）第二部分将关注阴谋信念的成功，作为科普不安全依恋带来的挑战的一种手段。开始，相关研究将测量阴谋信念，依恋风格和各种应对策略，以检查阴谋信念和不安全依恋预测相同应对策略的程度（2019年12月）。然后，实验研究将操纵依恋风格（例如，通过启动一个安全的基础图式），以建立依恋风格，阴谋信念和应对策略之间的因果关系（2020年7月）。最后，我们将在随后的研究中通过测量依恋、操纵阴谋论的暴露以及测量各种幸福指数来检验阴谋论是否会使不安全依恋的人感觉更好（2021年2月）。在每项研究中，我们将进行功效分析以获得足够的样本，并旨在从一系列来源招募参与者，包括众包，RPS，通过与其他研究人员合作，从大型面板中收集数据，