Engaging with conspiracy theories: Causes and consequences

Conspiracy theories – which posit that secret groups cooperate to pursue malevolent goals – are a prominent feature in social and political discourse. Psychological research on conspiracy theories has boomed in the past 20 years, generating insights to the correlates and consequences of conspiracy beliefs. However, the literature suffers some limitations; the current editorial identifies five that constrain this relatively young field of research and recommends that future research (1) consider different forms of conspiracy beliefs and their distinct correlates and effects, (2) rely more on experiments to allow for conclusions about causality, (3) conduct more research that is high in external validity, (4) dedicate more attention to the cognitive processes underlying conspiracy beliefs, and (5) study methods for potential interventions. The current Virtual Special Issue highlights cutting-edge research that addresses some of these limitations. In particular, they highlight the importance of experimental methods in advancing this growing research field.