Conspiracy theory beliefs and worldviews: a mixed-methods approach exploring the psychology of monologicality, dialogicality and belief development

Conspiracy theories (CTs) appear to be an increasingly widespread aspect of everyday thought about social and political events. They call into question common understandings of people and institutions within society, and can have implications for political and policy relevant behaviours (e.g. voting, vaccine uptake). This thesis challenges a central finding in the limited literature covering belief in CTs – the proposition of ‘monologicality’ as proposed by Goertzel (1994), that belief in one CT is accompanied by wholescale endorsement of many others. The thesis takes a mixed-methods approach, triangulating qualitative and quantitative data, to revise our understanding of monologicality. Through qualitative analyses of interview data as presented in Chapters 2, 3 and 4, the central argument put forward is that not all belief in CTs is monological but there are various other ways of endorsing CTs. In Chapter 2, a thematic analysis reveals five types of conspiracist worldviews, proposing a gradient from non-monological worldviews, characterised by intrigue or limited endorsement, to fully monological worldviews premised upon generalised human agency (e.g. government conspiracy) or supernatural agency (e.g. extra-terrestrial cover up, spiritual entities). Chapter 3 advances the concept of ‘dialogicality,’ revealing that CT ideas are endorsed alongside commonplace ideas of science, religion and politics and society. Five dialogical relations are substantiated, including: integrative thinking, synthetic thinking, target dependent thinking, cognitive dissonance and analogical thinking. Chapter 4 provides a narrative insight into the development of CT belief for all five monological types – focussing on the perceived origins of CT belief and later development. Next, we turn to quantitative data gathered via online surveys. Chapter 5 establishes a new scale known as the Conspiracist Worldviews Scale; the first to measure different types of conspiracist worldviews from non-monological to fully 5 monological. Five subscales representing five types of conspiracist worldviews (Type 2, Type 3, Type 4, Type 5-Alien, Type 5-Spiritual) achieve construct, convergent, concurrent and diagnostic validity. The quantitative findings of Chapter 5 validate earlier qualitative findings of Chapters 2-4 and extend previous understandings of monologicality. The thesis concludes, bringing all these empirical findings together and by recognising the importance of looking beyond monologicality if we are to fully understand the phenomena characterising conspiracist belief

The Hybrid Model of Trust and Distrust:Extending the Nomological Network

Previous research has highlighted the importance of trust in enabling the purchase of goods/services through the Internet. However, other researchers have theorized and shown that distrust, a distinct construct that is related to trust, should also be considered when studying trust (Duestch 1960, Luhman 1979, Gurtman 1992, Sitkin & Roth 1993, Lewicki et al. 1998). Because trust has been cited to be critical for e-commerce, it stands to reason that its related, yet negative counterpart, distrust should be at least as important and potentially more critical in some contexts. It is important to determine what antecedent conditions may increase the amount of distrust felt by the individual, and how these conditions can be mitigated. This dissertation proposes an experiment to test two research questions. First, this study explores novel antecedents of distrusting beliefs that go beyond the disposition to distrust, which has been the main focus of distrust research in IS. Second, building on the ambivalence work by Cacioppo & Berntson (1994) and Priester & Petty (1996), this study proposes that as a negative attitude towards action, distrust may interact and negate intentions when the buyer also feels similar levels of trust, as a positive attitude. Finally, the research methodology and analysis are outlined along with potential contributions for this study

The Role of Trust Perceptions and Propensity to Trust in Applicants' Experience of Recruitment and Selection

The role of organisational trustworthiness, propensity to trust and distrust was examined in the context of recruitment and selection. Specifically this research aimed to explore applicant experiences of selection as a context for trust. Because there has previously been little work looking systematically at the factorial and construct validity of propensity to trust this study also analysed responses to nine previously published propensity-to-trust scales using a combination of factor analytic, regression and content analyses. Findings supported the idea that propensity to trust scales are multidimensional and reflect aspects of both personality and experience of different trust contexts. The implication of this is that while use of propensity to trust is theoretically justified, checks on dimensionality should be carried out to account for different facets of this construct. The second study used the NEO propensity to trust scale (Costa & McCrae, 1985) as part of a survey looking into research degree applicant's experience of the recruitment and selection process during the post application and post interview stage. In addition to propensity to trust and propensity to distrust playing different role during attraction, influencing the decision of applicants to pursue a vacancy, propensity to distrust also appeared to regulate the relationship between selection justice, organisational trustworthiness and outcome intentions. Evidence from template analysis suggested ways in which justice and trust are manifested during the selection process, but based on a triangulated view, questions about what or whom applicants trust may need further examination and consideration in future research

Are we bad winners? : Public understandings of the United Nations’ World Happiness Report among Finnish digital media and their readers

In this research, we investigate the public understanding of the World Happiness Report within the context of its highest-ranking country: Finland. We analyse how two actors, Finnish online media and their readers, understood the publication as well as the concept being measured: happiness. Digital media adopted an ambivalent stance towards both the World Happiness Report (‘sports victory’ vs ‘societal problems’) and the concept of happiness (‘reticence to define happiness’ vs ‘secrets of Finnish happiness’). Readers agreeing with the World Happiness Report define Finland as an ‘almost utopia’ while readers disagreeing with the World Happiness Report, in addition to presenting a reversed image of Finland (‘almost dystopia’), further justify their distrust towards the World Happiness Report by attacking the publication, its authors and the participants (Finns). Both actors carefully construct their understanding of happiness to fit their arguments aimed at the glorification/scandalization of the World Happiness Report.Peer reviewe

From the playground to the demos : familiarization of children with democratic practices in Mexico and Portugal

The participation of children and youth in democratic processes is a vital aspect of building inclusive, responsive, and accountable societies. However, children and youth are often excluded from decisions that affect their lives and communities, and their voices are often not heard in political and policy debates. This dissertation aims to examine the indissociable relationship between democratic participation and children, explore the ways in which children and young people can be effectively included in democratic processes, and identify the benefits and challenges of such participation. To do this, the research looks at two case studies: the Consulta Infantil y Juvenil (Consultation for Children and Youth) in Mexico and the Tenho Voto na Matéria (I Have a Say in the Matter) Initiative in Portugal. These case studies provide valuable insights into the frameworks, design and planning, participation, and outcomes of initiatives that aim to promote children's democratic participation. Through a review of these cases, the research aims to identify the prospects and lessons learned for the future of children's democratic participatio

Faculty sense of academic optimism and its relationship to students\u27 achievement in well performing high schools

The aim of this study was to determine the organizational characteristics and behaviors that contribute to sustaining a culture of academic optimism as a mechanism of student achievement. While there is a developing research base identifying both the individual elements of academic optimism as well as the academic optimism construct itself as contributors to student achievement, little information exists to assist school leaders in identifying specific organizational practices that sustain collective teacher efficacy, academic emphasis, and trust in students and families. This study employs case study methodology to investigate faculties\u27 interpretations of academic optimism by examining the organizational and instructional practices at three well performing Virginia high schools. Gathered data includes information obtained through direct interviews with 18 (six at each site) faculty members, observations from 12 (four at each site) classrooms, and a review of each school\u27s vision or mission statements, improvement initiatives, and course offerings and enrollments

Tracing back Communities. An Analysis of Ars Electronica's Digital Communities archive from an ANT perspective

Since long before the popularization of the Web, community-making has been a significant driving force for the development of the Internet. As a consequence, in mid 1990s online communities became a key object of study at the intersection of social sciences, organizational studies and computer sciences. Today, about fifteen years after these early studies, the concept \u2018online community\u2019 seems to be at stake. As a matter of fact, while communitarian ties enabled by digital media are more and more invocated, in late 2000s the Internet is revealing itself as a much more bureaucratic and profit-oriented domain than ever, to the point that it is not clear whether there exist online ties that are specific enough to be called \u2018communitarian\u2019. In order to analyse such an opaque and unstable object of study as current techno-social assemblages, innovative methods specifically developed to study fuzzy objects have to be devised and some epistemological questions have to be addressed. This research starts indeed from the impasse that the digital communitarian culture is experiencing at the end of the 2000s and borrows some epistemological insights from the Actor-Network Theory. By analyzing the entry forms submitted to the world\u2019s leading competition for digital communities, Prix Ars Electronica, this research thus calls into question some \u2018black-boxed\u2019 concepts like \u2018cyberculture\u2019, \u2018digital revolution\u2019, \u2018empowerment\u2019 and \u2018online community\u2019 itself. On one hand, the results bring into question both leading sociological positions and hype-generated commonplaces. On the other hand, the results offer evidence to those arguments according to which current ICT developments represent the beginning of a new phase of technological enclosure