Conspiracy Belief as a Coping Strategy: An Attachment Theory Perspective

阴谋论将重大事件解释为神秘而强大的团体的行为。它们既受欢迎，又有影响，影响人们投票、给孩子接种疫苗和减少他们的碳足迹的决定(1)。最近一种关于人们为什么采用阴谋论的理论观点提出，人们这样做是为了满足重要的心理需求，包括对安全和控制的需求(2)。也就是说，人们似乎求助于阴谋论，试图恢复安全和控制，例如，相信他们掌握了其他人没有的知识(3)。然而，关于将心理需求与阴谋论的采用联系起来的具体机制，人们知之甚少。此外，关于采用阴谋论是否是一种有效的策略，以及人们在采用阴谋论时是否真的感觉更好，我们知之甚少。这些问题是当前研究的重点。研究主要集中在不同依恋类型所产生的安全和控制的心理需求(4)，以及这些需求是否被阴谋论所满足。我的研究表明，对于有不安全依恋风格的人，特别是那些焦虑地依恋但不能回避或安全依恋的人，阴谋论似乎特别有吸引力。我们的目标是在这一发现的基础上进行两个方面的研究。第一部分将研究为什么焦虑的依恋的人会被阴谋论所吸引。一种可能性是，这类人倾向于夸大威胁以获得关注和支持，而具有回避型或安全型依恋风格的人则不会。这一可能的解释将成为第一项研究的重点(于2018年12月完成)。我们将使用既定的量表测量依恋风格和对阴谋论的信仰，并使用为本研究设计的项目来测量威胁夸大。例如，这些项目将列出威胁情景(例如，成为网络欺诈的受害者)，参与者将被要求报告这些威胁事件发生的可能性。我们预测焦虑依恋将正向预测阴谋论信念(4)，焦虑依恋将预测威胁夸大(6)。我们进一步预测，威胁夸大对阴谋观信念有正向预测作用，并在焦虑依恋与阴谋观信念之间起中介作用。随后的研究(特别是如果研究1的结果是无效或不确定的)将考察其他可以解释依恋风格和阴谋论信念之间关系的机制，例如缺乏控制力、无能为力和对未来的不确定性(2019年7月)。第二部分将关注阴谋论信念作为应对不安全依恋带来的挑战的一种手段的成功。首先，一项相关研究将测量阴谋论信念、依恋风格和各种应对策略，以检验阴谋论信念和不安全依恋在多大程度上预测相同的应对策略(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、操纵对阴谋论的暴露以及测量各种幸福感指数来检验阴谋论是否会让不安全依恋的人感觉更好(2021年2月)。在每项研究中，我们将进行权力分析以获得足够的样本，并旨在通过与其他研究人员合作从大型小组收集数据，从包括众包、RPS和代表性样本在内的一系列来源招募参与者。

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.