ESC

Clarivate

JCR Category: Business in ESCI edition

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues Open access
Journal Impact FactorTM (2024) 1.3 Q3
Journal Citation IndicatorTM (2024) 0.26 Q4
Received: 2025-01-15  |  Accepted: 2025-04-06  |  Published: 2025-06-30

Title

The role and influence of the conspiratorial narrative on the acceptance of conspiracy theories


Abstract

Conspiracy theories have received considerable attention in recent times. Some people consider them the best possible explanations for certain significant social events and believe them more than official reports or explanations. This article, therefore, examines the factors influencing the acceptance of conspiracy theories, paying particular attention to the conspiratorial narrative and the influence of information ambiguity on their acceptance. Based on theoretical foundations, it analyses the relationship between conspiratorial thinking, emotional factors and distrust of official sources, authorities and institutions. The results suggest that information ambiguity is not the primary factor influencing belief in conspiracy theories, but rather the personality predispositions of individuals, their perceived threat and the degree of scepticism towards official explanations of certain events. Conspiracy thinking appears to be a stable cognitive schema resistant to rational counterarguments and often supported by emotional and social factors.


Keywords

conspiracy theories, conspiratorial narrative, conspiratorial thinking


JEL classifications

F52 , F59 , H56 , H59 , K22


URI

http://jssidoi.org/jesi/article/1306


DOI


Pages

158-170


Funding

This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the contract no. APVV-20-0334 and also was prepared within the framework of VEGA Project no. 1/0578/23 "Cyber-social security threats in contemporary world: case study on threats on disinformation and emerging security threats in the societal context".

This is an open access issue and all published articles are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Authors

Ivančík, Radoslav
Academy of the Police Force in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia https://www.akademiapz.sk
Articles by this author in: CrossRef |  Google Scholar

Nečas, Pavel
Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia https://www.umb.sk
Articles by this author in: CrossRef |  Google Scholar

Journal title

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues

Volume

12


Number

4


Issue date

June 2025


Issue DOI


ISSN

ISSN 2345-0282 (online)


Publisher

VšĮ Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, Vilnius, Lithuania

Cited

Google Scholar

Article views & downloads

HTML views: 873  |  PDF downloads: 373

References


Abalakina‐Paap, M., Stephan, W. G., Craig, T., & Gregory, W. L. (1999). Beliefs in Conspiracies. Political Psychology, 20(3), 637–647. https://doi.org/10.1111/0162-895X.00160

Search via ReFindit


Barkun, M. (2003). A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society). University of California Press.

Search via ReFindit


Bergmann, E. (2018). Conspiracy & Populism: The Politics of Misinformation. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90359-0

Search via ReFindit


Bertin, P., Nera, K., & Delouvée, S. (2020). Conspiracy Beliefs, Rejection of Vaccination, and Support for hydroxychloroquine: A Conceptual Replication-Extension in the COVID-19 Pandemic Context. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.565128

Search via ReFindit


Bilewicz, M., & Sedek, G. (2015). Conspiracy stereotypes: their sociopsychological antecedents and consequences. In M. Bilewicz, A. Cichocka, W. Soral (Eds.) The Psychology of Conspiracy (pp. 3–22). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315746838

Search via ReFindit


Brotherton, R., French, C. C., & Pickering, A. D. (2013). Measuring Belief in Conspiracy Theories: The Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale. Frontiers in Psychology, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00279

Search via ReFindit


Bruder, M., Haffke, P., Neave, N., Nouripanah, N., & Imhoff, R. (2013). Measuring Individual Differences in Generic Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories Across Cultures: Conspiracy Mentality Questionnaire. Frontiers in Psychology, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00225

Search via ReFindit


Butter, M. & Knight, P. (2020). Conspiracy Theory in Historical, Cultural and Literary Studies. In M. Butter, & P. Knight (Eds.) Routledge handbook of conspiracy theories (pp. 28-43). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429452734-1_2

Search via ReFindit


Byford, J. (2011). Conspiracy Theories: A Critical Introduction. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230349216

Search via ReFindit


Cassam, Q. (2020). Konspirační teorie. Filosofia.

Search via ReFindit


Chen, X., Zhang, S. X., Jahanshahi, A. A., Alvarez-Risco, A., Dai, H., Li, J., & Ibarra, V. G. (2020). Belief in a COVID-19 Conspiracy Theory as a Predictor of Mental Health and Well-Being of Health Care Workers in Ecuador: Cross-Sectional Survey Study. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 6(3), e20737. https://doi.org/10.2196/20737

Search via ReFindit


Clarke, S. (2002). Conspiracy Theories and Conspiracy Theorizing. Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 32(2), 131–150. https://doi.org/10.1177/004931032002001

Search via ReFindit


Cubitt, G. (1989). Conspiracy myths and conspiracy theories. Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford 20 (1), 12–26. https://www.anthro.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/anthro/documents/media/jaso20_1_1989_12_26.pdf

Search via ReFindit


Dentith, M. (2014). The Philosophy of Conspiracy Theories. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137363169

Search via ReFindit


Douglas, K. M., Sutton, R. M., & Cichocka, A. (2017). The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(6), 538–542. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417718261

Search via ReFindit


Douglas, K. M., Sutton, R. M., Callan, M. J., Dawtry, R. J., & Harvey, A. J. (2015). Someone is pulling the strings: hypersensitive agency detection and belief in conspiracy theories. Thinking & Reasoning, 22(1), 57–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/13546783.2015.1051586

Search via ReFindit


Federico, C. M., Williams, A. L., & Vitriol, J. A. (2018). The role of system identity threat in conspiracy theory endorsement. European Journal of Social Psychology, 48(7), 927–938. Festinger, L. (1962). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford: Stanford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1062-93 https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2495

Search via ReFindit


Franks, B., Bangerter, A., & Bauer, M. W. (2013). Conspiracy theories as quasi-religious mentality: an integrated account from cognitive science, social representations theory, and frame theory. Frontiers in Psychology, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00424

Search via ReFindit


Franks, B., Bangerter, A., Bauer, M. W., Hall, M., & Noort, M. C. (2017). Beyond “Monologicality”? Exploring Conspiracist Worldviews. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00861

Search via ReFindit


Goertzel, T. (1994). Belief in Conspiracy Theories. Political Psychology, 15(4), 731. https://doi.org/10.2307/3791630

Search via ReFindit


Goertzel, T. (2010). Conspiracy theories in science. EMBO Reports, 11(7), 493–499. https://doi.org/10.1038/embor.2010.84

Search via ReFindit


Green, R., & Douglas, K. M. (2018). Anxious attachment and belief in conspiracy theories. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.12.023

Search via ReFindit


Harambam, J. (2020). Contemporary Conspiracy Culture: Truth and Knowledge in an Era of Epistemic Instability (Conspiracy Theories). Routledge. Heider, F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. John Wiley & Sons Inc. https://doi.org/10.1037/10628-000 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429327605

Search via ReFindit


Heine, S. J., Proulx, T., & Vohs, K. D. (2006). The Meaning Maintenance Model: On the Coherence of Social Motivations. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10(2), 88–110. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr1002_1

Search via ReFindit


Hofstadter, R. (1964) The paranoid style in American politics and other essays, Cambridge: Harvard University

Search via ReFindit


Imhoff, R., & Bruder, M. (2014). Speaking (Un–)Truth to Power: Conspiracy Mentality as A Generalized Political Attitude. European Journal of Personality, 28(1), 25–43. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.1930

Search via ReFindit


Ivančík, R., & Andrassy, V. (2024). On some aspects of the growing popularity of conspiracy theories. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 11(3), 25–36. http://doi.org/10.9770/jesi.2024.11.3(2)

Search via ReFindit


Ivančík, R., & Nováková, D. (2023). On the Motives of Belief in Conspiracy Theories. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 11(2), 111–122. https://doi.org/10.9770/jesi.2023.11.2(8)

Search via ReFindit


Jolley, D., & Douglas, K. M. (2013). The social consequences of conspiracism: Exposure to conspiracy theories decreases intentions to engage in politics and to reduce one’s carbon footprint. British Journal of Psychology, 105(1), 35–56. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12018

Search via ReFindit


Jolley, D., & Douglas, K. M. (2014). The Effects of Anti-Vaccine Conspiracy Theories on Vaccination Intentions. PLoS ONE, 9(2), e89177. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0089177

Search via ReFindit


Jolley, D., Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2017). Blaming a Few Bad Apples to Save a Threatened Barrel: The System-Justifying Function of Conspiracy Theories. Political Psychology, 39(2), 465–478. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12404

Search via ReFindit


Jutzi, C. A., Willardt, R., Schmid, P. C., & Jonas, E. (2020). Between Conspiracy Beliefs, Ingroup Bias, and System Justification: How People Use Defense Strategies to Cope with the Threat of COVID-19. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.578586

Search via ReFindit


Karp, J. A., Nai, A., & Norris, P. (2018). Dial ‘F’ for fraud: Explaining citizens suspicions about elections. Electoral Studies, 53, 11–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2018.01.010

Search via ReFindit


Keely, B.L. (2006). Of Conspiracy Theories. In D. Coady (Ed.) Conspiracy Theories: The Philosophical Debate (pp. 45–60). Routledge. Kunda, Z. (1990). The case for motivated reasoning. Psychological Bulletin, 108(3), 480–498. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.108.3.480 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315259574-4

Search via ReFindit


LeBoeuf, R. A., & Norton, M. I. (2012). Consequence-Cause Matching: Looking to the Consequences of Events to Infer Their Causes. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(1), 128–141. https://doi.org/10.1086/662372

Search via ReFindit


Leman, P. J., & Cinnirella, M. (2013). Beliefs in conspiracy theories and the need for cognitive closure. Frontiers in Psychology, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00378

Search via ReFindit


Lewandowsky, S., Cook, J., Oberauer, K., Brophy, S., Lloyd, E.A. and Marriott, M. (2015) Recurrent fury: conspiratorial discourse in the blogosphere triggered by research on the role of conspiracist ideation in climate denial’. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 3(1): 142–78. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v3i1.443

Search via ReFindit


Lewandowsky, S., Gignac, G. E., & Oberauer, K. (2013). The Role of Conspiracist Ideation and Worldviews in Predicting Rejection of Science. PLoS ONE, 8(10), e75637. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0075637

Search via ReFindit


Marchlewska, M., Cichocka, A., & Kossowska, M. (2017). Addicted to answers: Need for cognitive closure and the endorsement of conspiracy beliefs. European Journal of Social Psychology, 48(2), 109–117. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2308

Search via ReFindit


McHoskey, J. W. (1995). Case closed? On the John F. Kennedy assassination: Biased assimilation of evidence and attitude polarization. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 17(3), 395–409. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324834basp1703_7

Search via ReFindit


Miller, S. (2002). Conspiracy Theories: Public Arguments as Coded Social Critiques: a Rhetorical Analysis of the Twa Flight 800 Conspiracy Theories. Argumentation and Advocacy, 39(1), 40–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/00028533.2002.11821576

Search via ReFindit


Modgil, S., Singh, R. K., Gupta, S., & Dennehy, D. (2021). A Confirmation Bias View on Social Media Induced Polarisation During Covid-19. Information Systems Frontiers. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-021-10222-9

Search via ReFindit


Moscovici S. (1987) The Conspiracy Mentality. In C.F Graumann & S. Moscovici (Eds.) Changing Conceptions of Conspiracy (pp. 151-169). Springer Series in Social Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4618-3_9

Search via ReFindit


North, G. (1985). Epilogue. In L. Abraham, Call It Conspiracy (pp. 241–292). Seattle, Washington: Double A Publication.

Search via ReFindit


Oliver, J. E., & Wood, T. J. (2014). Conspiracy Theories and the Paranoid Style(s) of Mass Opinion. American Journal of Political Science, 58(4), 952–966. Pennycook, G., Cheyne, J. A., Barr, N., Koehler, D. J., & Fugelsang, J. A. (2015). On the reception and detection of pseudo-profound bullshit. Judgment and Decision Making, 10(6), 549–563. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1930297500006999 https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12084

Search via ReFindit


Popper, K.R. (2006). The Conspiracy Theory of Society. In D. Coady (Ed.) Conspiracy Theories: The Philosophical Debate (pp. 13–15). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315259574-2

Search via ReFindit


Pytlik, N., Soll, D., & Mehl, S. (2020). Thinking Preferences and Conspiracy Belief: Intuitive Thinking and the Jumping to Conclusions-Bias as a Basis for the Belief in Conspiracy Theories. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.568942

Search via ReFindit


Räikkä, J. (2009). On Political Conspiracy Theories*. Journal of Political Philosophy, 17(2), 185–201. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9760.2007.00300.x

Search via ReFindit


Smallpage, S. M., Enders, A. M., & Uscinski, J. E. (2017). The partisan contours of conspiracy theory beliefs. Research & Politics, 4, https://doi.org/10.1177/2053168017746554

Search via ReFindit


Soveri, A., Karlsson, L. C., Antfolk, J., Lindfelt, M., & Lewandowsky, S. (2021). Unwillingness to engage in behaviors that protect against COVID-19: the role of conspiracy beliefs, trust, and endorsement of complementary and alternative medicine. BMC Public Health, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10643-w

Search via ReFindit


Ståhl, T., & van Prooijen, J. W. (2018). Epistemic rationality: Skepticism toward unfounded beliefs requires sufficient cognitive ability and motivation to be rational. Personality and Individual Differences, 122, 155–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.10.026

Search via ReFindit


Sunstein, C. R., & Vermeule, A. (2009). Conspiracy Theories: Causes and Cures*. Journal of Political Philosophy, 17(2), 202–227. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9760.2008.00325.x

Search via ReFindit


Swami, V. (2012). Social psychological origins of conspiracy theories: The case of the Jewish conspiracy theory in Malaysia. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00280

Search via ReFindit


Swami, V., & Furnham, A. (2014) Political paranoia and conspiracy theories, In J.-P. Prooijen & P.A.M. van Lange (Eds.) Power politics, and paranoia: why people are suspicious of their leaders (pp. 218–236), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139565417.016

Search via ReFindit


Swami, V., & Zahari, H. S. (2020). Conspiracy Theories in Southeast Asia. In D. Barron (Ed.), Routledge Handbook of Conspiracy Theories. (pp. 638–647). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429452734-5_9

Search via ReFindit


Uscinski, J. E. (2019). Conspiracy Theories and the People Who Believe Them. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190844073.001.0001

Search via ReFindit


van der Tempel, J., & Alcock, J. E. (2015). Relationships between conspiracy mentality, hyperactive agency detection, and schizotypy: Supernatural forces at work? Personality and Individual Differences, 82, 136–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.03.010

Search via ReFindit


van der Wal, R. C., Sutton, R. M., Lange, J., & Braga, J. P. N. (2018). Suspicious binds: Conspiracy thinking and tenuous perceptions of causal connections between co-occurring and spuriously correlated events. European Journal of Social Psychology, 48(7), 970–989. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2507

Search via ReFindit


van Prooijen, J. W. (2011). Suspicions of Injustice: The Sense-Making Function of Belief in Conspiracy Theories. Justice and Conflicts, 121–132. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19035-3_7

Search via ReFindit


van Prooijen, J. W. (2016). Why Education Predicts Decreased Belief in Conspiracy Theories. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 31(1), 50–58. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3301

Search via ReFindit


van Prooijen, J. W. (2018). The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories (The Psychology of Everything). Routledge https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315525419

Search via ReFindit


van Prooijen, J. W., & Douglas, K. M. (2017). Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations. Memory Studies, 10(3), 323–333. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698017701615

Search via ReFindit


van Prooijen, J. W., Etienne, T. W., Kutiyski, Y., & Krouwel, A. P. M. (2021a). Conspiracy Beliefs Prospectively Predict Health Behavior and Well-being during a Pandemic. Psychological Medicine, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291721004438

Search via ReFindit


van Prooijen, J. W., Spadaro, G., & Wang, H. (2021b). Suspicion of institutions: How distrust and conspiracy theories deteriorate social relationships. Current Opinion in Psychology, 43, 65–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.06.013

Search via ReFindit


Ward, C., & Voas, D. (2011). The Emergence of Conspirituality. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 26(1), 103–121. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2011.539846

Search via ReFindit


Whitson, J. A., Galinsky, A. D., & Kay, A. (2015). The emotional roots of conspiratorial perceptions, system justification, and belief in the paranormal. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 56, 89–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2014.09.002

Search via ReFindit


Wood, M. J., Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2012). Dead and Alive. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 3(6), 767–773. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550611434786

Search via ReFindit


Zhao, J., Hahn, U., & Osherson, D. (2014). Perception and identification of random events. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 40(4), 1358–1371. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036816

Search via ReFindit