This paper attempted to advance the Conspiracy Theory (CT) literature in two ways. First, we devised a new CT measure concerning the Hamas/Israeli conflict (H/IC), which we correlated with two other CTs: a general, and health-related CT. Second, we assessed the Dark Tetrad traits in addition to demographic, ideological, self-esteem (SE), and Just World Belief (BJW) correlates on all three CTs. All CTs maintained acceptable alphas and were highly correlated 0.46 < r < 0.83. Psychopathology on the Tetrad measure was related to all three CTs. The correlation and regression results highlighted different factors, but clearly endorsing one CT is the strongest predictor of other CTs: evidence of a CT mindset. Demographic (sex, education), political beliefs, Dark Tetrad traits (Narcissism, Psychopathology) and BJWs were significant in the regression onto H/IC. Implications and limitations are acknowledged.
References
[1]
Azeri, S. (2025). Conspiracy Theories, Fetishism, and the Spiritual Crisis: Marx on Religion Revisited. CriticalResearchonReligion. https://doi.org/10.1177/20503032251381336
[2]
Bowes, S. M., Costello, T. H., Ma, W., & Lilienfeld, S. O. (2021). Looking under the Tinfoil Hat: Clarifying the Personological and Psychopathological Correlates of Conspiracy Beliefs. JournalofPersonality,89, 422-436. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12588
[3]
Brotherton, R. (2014). Flight MH370: The Allure of the Conspiracy Theory. NewScientist.
[4]
Buckels, E. E., Trapnell, P. D., & Paulhus, D. L. (2014). Trolls Just Want to Have Fun. PersonalityandIndividualDifferences,67, 97-102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.016
[5]
Buckels, E. E., Trapnell, P. D., Andjelovic, T., & Paulhus, D. L. (2018). Internet Trolling and Everyday Sadism: Parallel Effects on Pain Perception and Moral Judgment. JournalofPersonality,87, 328-340. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12393
[6]
Cichocka, A., Marchlewska, M., & de Zavala, A. G. (2016). Does Self-Love or Self-Hate Predict Conspiracy Beliefs? Narcissism, Self-Esteem, and the Endorsement of Conspiracy Theories. SocialPsychologicalandPersonalityScience,7, 157-166. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550615616170
[7]
Dalbert, C. (1999). The World Is More Just for Me than Generally: About Personal Belief in a Just World Scale’s Validit. SocialJusticeResearch,12, 79-98. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1022091609047
[8]
Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2015). Climate Change: Why the Conspiracy Theories Are Dangerous. BulletinoftheAtomicScientists,71, 9s8-106. https://doi.org/10.1177/0096340215571908
[9]
Douglas, K. M., Uscinski, J. E., Sutton, R. M., Cichocka, A., Nefes, T., Ang, C. S. et al. (2019). Understanding Conspiracy Theories. PoliticalPsychology,40, 3-35. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12568
[10]
Enders, A. M., Uscinski, J. E., Klofstad, C. A., Seelig, M. I., Wuchty, S., Murthi, M. N. et al. (2021). Do Conspiracy Beliefs Form a Belief System? Examining the Structure and Organization of Conspiracy Beliefs. JournalofSocialandPoliticalPsychology,9, 255-271. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.5649
[11]
Enders, A., Klofstad, C., Littrell, S., Miller, J., Theocharis, Y., Uscinski, J. et al. (2024). Left–right Political Orientations Are Not Systematically Related to Conspiracism. PoliticalPsychology,46, 56-79. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.13017
[12]
Furnham, A. (2023). Just World Beliefs, Personal Success and Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories. Current Psychology, 42, 2636-2642. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01576-z
[13]
Furnham, A., & Cuppello, S. (2023). Maladaptive (Dark-Side) and Adaptive (Bright-Side) Personality Traits and Defense Styles. ActaPsychologica,239, Article 104002. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2023.104002
[14]
Furnham, A., & Grover, S. (2022). Do You Have to Be Mad to Believe in Conspiracy Theories? Personality Disorders and Conspiracy Theories. InternationalJournalofSocialPsychiatry,68, 1454-1461. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207640211031614
[15]
Furnham, A., & Leka, J. (2023). Business Conspiracy Theories. Psychology,14, 1473-1482. https://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2023.149084
[16]
Furnham, A., Cuppello, S., & Semmelink, D. S. (2025). Conspiracy Theory Mentality, Injustice and Tolerance of Ambiguity. AppliedCognitivePsychology,39, Article 104229. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.70151
[17]
Galliford, N., & Furnham, A. (2017). Individual Difference Factors and Beliefs in Medical and Political Conspiracy Theories. ScandinavianJournalofPsychology,58, 422-428. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12382
[18]
Goertzel, T. (1994). Belief in Conspiracy Theories. Political Psychology, 15, 731. https://doi.org/10.2307/3791630
[19]
Goreis, A., & Voracek, M. (2019). A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Psychological Research on Conspiracy Beliefs: Field Characteristics, Measurement Instruments, and Associations with Personality Traits. FrontiersinPsychology,10, Article ID: 205. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00205
[20]
Haakonsen, J. M. F., & Furnham, A. (2023). COVID-19 Vaccination: Conspiracy Theories, Demography, Ideology, and Personality Disorders. HealthPsychology,42, 205-212. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0001222
[21]
Hesse, J., & Weidemann, C. (2025). Conspiracy Theories and Religious Worldviews: Unraveling a Complex Relationship. Episteme,22, 1035-1054. https://doi.org/10.1017/epi.2024.55
[22]
Imhoff, R., & Bruder, M. (2014). Speaking (Un–)Truth to Power: Conspiracy Mentality as a Generalised Political Attitude. EuropeanJournalofPersonality,28, 25-43. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.1930
[23]
Imhoff, R., Zimmer, F., Klein, O., António, J. H. C., Babinska, M., Bangerter, A. et al. (2022). Conspiracy Mentality and Political Orientation across 26 Countries. NatureHumanBehaviour,6, 392-403. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01258-7
[24]
Kay, C. S., & Slovic, P. (2023). The Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale-5: A Short-Form Measure of Conspiracist Ideation. JournalofResearchinPersonality,102, Article 104315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2022.104315
[25]
March, E., & Springer, J. (2019). Belief in Conspiracy Theories: The Predictive Role of Schizotypy, Machiavellianism, and Primary Psychopathy. PLOSONE,14, e0225964. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225964
[26]
O’Brien, C., Georgiou, N., & Bartholomaeus, J. (2025). The Association between Belief in a Just World and Endorsing Conspiracy Theories Is Moderated by Ambiguity Tolerance, but Not Scientific Reasoning. PersonalityandIndividualDifferences,233, Article 112885. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2024.112885
[27]
Oliver, J. E., & Wood, T. (2014). Medical Conspiracy Theories and Health Behaviors in the United States. JAMAInternalMedicine,174, 817-818. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.190
[28]
Paulhus, D. L., Buckels, E. E., Trapnell, P. D., & Jones, D. N. (2020). Screening for Dark Personalities: The Short Dark Tetrad (SD4). EuropeanJournalofPsychologicalAssessment,37, 208-222. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000602
[29]
Pérez-Gay Juárez, F., Solomonova, E., Nephtali, E., & Gold, I. (2024). Conspiracies and Contagion: Two Patterns of COVID-19 Related Beliefs Associated with Distinct Mental Symptomatology. PsychiatryResearchCommunications,4, Article 100153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psycom.2023.100153
[30]
Pilch, I., Turska-Kawa, A., Wardawy, P., Olszanecka-Marmola, A., & Smołkowska-Jędo, W. (2023). Contemporary Trends in Psychological Research on Conspiracy Beliefs. a Systematic Review. FrontiersinPsychology,14, Article ID: 1075779. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1075779
[31]
Robertson, D. G., & Dyrendal, A. (2018). Conspiracy Theories and Religion. In J. E. Uscinski (Ed.), ConspiracyTheoriesandthePeopleWhoBelieveThem (pp. 411-421). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190844073.003.0028
[32]
Stasielowicz, L. (2022). Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories? A Meta-Analysis on Personality Correlates. JournalofResearchinPersonality,98, Article 104229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2022.104229
[33]
Sutton, R. M., & Douglas, K. M. (2020). Conspiracy Theories and the Conspiracy Mindset: Implications for Political Ideology. CurrentOpinioninBehavioralSciences,34, 118-122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.02.015
[34]
Swami, V., & Furnham, A. (2012). Examining Conspiracist Beliefs about the Disappearance of Amelia Earhart. TheJournalofGeneralPsychology,139, 244-259. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221309.2012.697932
[35]
Swami, V., & Furnham, A. (2014). Political Paranoia and Conspiracy Theories. In J. W. van Prooijen, & P. A. M. van Lange (Eds.), Power,Politics,andParanoia (pp. 218-236). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139565417.016
[36]
Swami, V., Weis, L., Lay, A., Barron, D., & Furnham, A. (2016). Associations between Belief in Conspiracy Theories and the Maladaptive Personality Traits of the Personality Inventory for Dsm-5. PsychiatryResearch,236, 86-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2015.12.027
[37]
van Prooijen, J., & Douglas, K. M. (2017). Conspiracy Theories as Part of History: The Role of Societal Crisis Situations. MemoryStudies,10, 323-333. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698017701615
[38]
van Prooijen, J., Krouwel, A. P. M., & Pollet, T. V. (2015). Political Extremism Predicts Belief in Conspiracy Theories. SocialPsychologicalandPersonalityScience,6, 570-578. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550614567356
[39]
Walter, A. S., & Drochon, H. (2020). Conspiracy Thinking in Europe and America: A Comparative Study. PoliticalStudies,70, 483-501.
[40]
Williams, M. N., Ling, M., Kerr, J. R., Hill, S. R., Marques, M. D., Mawson, H. et al. (2024). People Do Change Their Beliefs about Conspiracy Theories—But Not Often. ScientificReports,14, Article No. 3836. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-51653-z