Intuition, reason, and conspiracy beliefs

Conspiracy theories tend to involve doubt and skepticism, but are conspiracy believers really more deliberative? We review recent research that investigates the relative roles of intuition and reason in conspiracy belief and find that the preponderance of evidence indicates that conspiracy belief is linked to an overreliance on intuition and a lack of reflection. This research, in addition to work investigating the broader influence of misinformation, indicates that people may believe conspiracies partly because they fail to engage in analytic thinking and rely too much on their intuitions. However, we also note that research in this area lacks in experimental studies and that work focusing on underlying cognitive mechanisms is needed.

Automated summary

Conspiracy belief is linked to an overreliance on intuition and a lack of reflection. People may believe conspiracies partly because they fail to engage in analytic thinking and rely too much on their intuitions. However, there is a lack of experimental studies in this area and further research on underlying cognitive mechanisms is needed.