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Original Article

The Victimizing Effects of Conspiracy Beliefs

Published Online:February 23, 2024https://doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000542

Abstract

Abstract: Victimhood has been linked to conspiracy beliefs in various contexts. However, the causal relationship between these constructs remains unclear. Following previous work, conspiracy beliefs could be described as victimized beliefs that are consequences of perceiving one’s ingroup as especially suffering from a situation (i.e., exclusive forms of collective victimhood, comprising competitive victimhood). However, in the absence of causal examination, it might also be that conspiracy beliefs are victimizing beliefs that increase perceptions of victimhood. In Studies 1 and 2, which experimentally tested the widespread victimized beliefs interpretation (Ntotal = 730), induced exclusive victimhood increased neither specific nor generic conspiracy beliefs. In Study 3 (N = 335), I tested the reversed causal relations and found that exposure to specific or generic conspiracy theories in a fictitious society increased neither individual nor collective forms of victimhood. However, in Study 4 (N = 465), exposure to a specific conspiracy theory about a real-world conflict, compared to a generic conspiracy theory, increased exclusive forms of collective victimhood. By contrast, individual-level victimhood about systemic issues increased in both conspiratorial conditions. The goal of Study 5 (N = 561) was to distinguish the victimizing effects of exposure to a specific conspiracy theory from those of an intergroup conflict situation. Exposure to a conspiracy theory and to an intergroup conflict increased exclusive victimhood to the same extent, but the conspiracy condition again triggered more individual-level victimhood. Together, these results document that conspiracy beliefs have a self-oriented victimizing effect and that it is crucial to account for intergroup conflicts when studying the link between these beliefs and collective-level victimhood. Victimizing one’s status through conspiracy allegations might seek to gain advantages in crisis situations.

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