Author ORCID Identifier
0009-0004-9096-7975
Date of Award
12-18-2024
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Heather Kleider-Offutt
Second Advisor
John Horgan
Third Advisor
Eyal Aharoni
Abstract
Little psychological research has examined the potential connection between endorsing epistemically unwarranted beliefs (EUBs; e.g. conspiracy theories, misinformation, etc.) and endorsing extremist beliefs (Piazza, 2022; Rottweiler & Gill, 2022). The present study did not find a relationship between extremist belief endorsement and EUBs endorsement, examined via a correlation matrix analysis between two substantiated measures of EUBs (the Misinformation Susceptibility Test (MIST; Maertens et al., 2023) and the Generic Conspiracist Belief Scale (GCBS; Brotherton et al., 2013)) and two substantiated measures of extremism (Activism and Radicalism Intention Scales (ARIS; Moskalenko & McCauley, 2009) and the Activist Orientation Scale (AOS; Corning and Myers, 2002)) with novel extremist belief vignettes. Second, the present study also suggests that an inoculation intervention (Bad News; Roozenbeek & van der Linden, 2019) was effective at decreasing EUBs but not effective for decreasing extremist beliefs. These results indicate that extremist beliefs may be a distinct entity from EUBs.
Recommended Citation
Heiter, Rachel, "Believing the Unbelievable: Exploring the Relationship Between Extremist Beliefs and Epistemically Unwarranted Beliefs." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2024.
https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_theses/284
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