The Conspiratorial Mind: A Meta-Analytic Review of Motivational and Personological Correlates

A tidal wave of research has tried to uncover the motivational and personological correlates of conspiratorial ideation, often studying these two classes of correlates in parallel. Here, we synthesize this vast and piecemeal literature through a multilevel meta-analytic review that spanned 170 studies, 257 samples, 52 variables, 1,429 effect sizes, and 158,473 participants. Overall, we found that the strongest correlates of conspiratorial ideation pertained to (a) perceiving danger and threat, (b) relying on intuition and having odd beliefs and experiences, and (c) being antagonistic and acting superior. Considerable heterogeneity was found within these relations-especially when individual variables were lumped together under a single domain-and we identified potential boundary conditions in these relations (e.g., type of conspiracy). Given that the psychological correlates of conspiratorial ideation have often been classified as belonging to one of two broad domains-motivation or personality-we aim to understand the implications of such heterogeneity for frameworks of conspiratorial ideation. We conclude with directions for future research that can lead to a unified account of conspiratorial ideation. Public Significance Statement This empirical one-stop-shop provides a comprehensive overview of the motivational and personological correlates of conspiratorial ideation. We find that most motivational and personological variables reported in the literature were significantly related to conspiratorial ideation, but effect sizes varied considerably. We discuss the implications of our findings for future research that can leverage our quantitative review to bridge motivation and personality and, ultimately, arrive at a unified account of conspiratorial ideation.

Automated summary

This study conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis to examine the motivational and personological correlates of conspiratorial ideation. The results showed that perceiving danger and threat, relying on intuition and having odd beliefs and experiences, and exhibiting antagonistic and superior behavior were the strongest correlates of conspiratorial ideation. The study also identified potential boundary conditions and discussed the implications of these findings for future research.