Trying to reduce people's
conspiracy beliefs is notoriously difficult."
Although the book deals primarily with the AIDS pandemic, many of the insights contribute to a better understanding of the way in which all
conspiracy beliefs function.
Nonetheless, the pervasiveness of
conspiracy beliefs in contemporary democratic societies presents special challenges for the social scientist.
Anti-government rhetoric and
conspiracy beliefs of sovereigns and other right-wing extremist groups are often repeated in social discourse today; on popular talk shows; and in speeches by some politicians who claim that.
Several researchers have argued that the legacy of mistrust and suspicion of health-care providers, validated by the infamous Tuskegee experiment, Jim Crow segregation policies, and centuries of institutionalized racism, has been driving HIV
conspiracy beliefs in the Black community (Thomas and Quinn 1991; Jones 1992; Bogart et al.
It is believed that
conspiracy beliefs stem from chronic experiences of discrimination (Bird & Bogart, 2005).
These characteristics consist of backing one or more conspiracy theories unrelated to 9/11, frequently talking about 9/11
conspiracy beliefs with like-minded friends and others, taking a cynical stance toward politics, mistrusting authority, endorsing democratic practices, feeling generally suspicious toward others and displaying an inquisitive, imaginative outlook.
In Pretoria, South Africa Council researchers Waimar Tun and Kellerman will explore the impact of mistrust and
conspiracy beliefs on HIV-preventive behaviors, use of HIV-related services, and willingness among MSM to participate in clinical trials for HIV treatments or vaccines.
Men who had the highest level of
conspiracy beliefs had more negative attitudes about condoms and were less likely to use them.
Conspiracy beliefs may affect birth control use by African American men and women, according to a study published in the journal Health Education and Behavior.
Among Goertzel's (1994) respondents, those who were older were less likely to maintain
conspiracy beliefs than were those who were younger, possibly because they were brought up in an era when there was relatively high trust in government.
In the study titled "(http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejsp.2265/abstract?campaign=wolearlyview) Too special to be duped: Need for uniqueness " motivates
conspiracy beliefs, the two researchers in social psychology, Roland Imhoff and Pia Karoline Lamberty, created an experiment with an entirely made-up conspiracy theory.