View in EDS

Nothing Happens by Accident, or Does It? A Low Prior for Randomness Does Not Explain Belief in Conspiracy Theories.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Nothing Happens by Accident, or Does It? A Low Prior for Randomness Does Not Explain Belief in Conspiracy Theories.
Authors: Dieguez, Sebastian, Wagner-Egger, Pascal, Gauvrit, Nicolas
Source: Psychological Science (0956-7976). Nov2015, Vol. 26 Issue 11, p1762-1770. 9p.
Subjects: Conspiracy theories, Psychology of belief & doubt, Deception, Charlie Hebdo Shooting, Paris, France, 2015, Authoritarianism, Psychology students
Abstract: Belief in conspiracy theories has often been associated with a biased perception of randomness, akin to a nothing-happens-by-accident heuristic. Indeed, a low prior for randomness (i.e., believing that randomness is a priori unlikely) could plausibly explain the tendency to believe that a planned deception lies behind many events, as well as the tendency to perceive meaningful information in scattered and irrelevant details; both of these tendencies are traits diagnostic of conspiracist ideation. In three studies, we investigated this hypothesis and failed to find the predicted association between low prior for randomness and conspiracist ideation, even when randomness was explicitly opposed to malevolent human intervention. Conspiracy believers’ and nonbelievers’ perceptions of randomness were not only indistinguishable from each other but also accurate compared with the normative view arising from the algorithmic information framework. Thus, the motto “nothing happens by accident,” taken at face value, does not explain belief in conspiracy theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Psychological Science (0956-7976) is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
Header DbId: pbh
DbLabel: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
An: 110890218
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Nothing Happens by Accident, or Does It? A Low Prior for Randomness Does Not Explain Belief in Conspiracy Theories.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Dieguez%2C+Sebastian%22">Dieguez, Sebastian</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Wagner-Egger%2C+Pascal%22">Wagner-Egger, Pascal</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Gauvrit%2C+Nicolas%22">Gauvrit, Nicolas</searchLink>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Psychological+Science+%280956-7976%29%22">Psychological Science (0956-7976)</searchLink>. Nov2015, Vol. 26 Issue 11, p1762-1770. 9p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subjects
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Conspiracy+theories%22">Conspiracy theories</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychology+of+belief+%26+doubt%22">Psychology of belief & doubt</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Deception%22">Deception</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Charlie+Hebdo+Shooting%2C+Paris%2C+France%2C+2015%22">Charlie Hebdo Shooting, Paris, France, 2015</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Authoritarianism%22">Authoritarianism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychology+students%22">Psychology students</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Belief in conspiracy theories has often been associated with a biased perception of randomness, akin to a nothing-happens-by-accident heuristic. Indeed, a low prior for randomness (i.e., believing that randomness is a priori unlikely) could plausibly explain the tendency to believe that a planned deception lies behind many events, as well as the tendency to perceive meaningful information in scattered and irrelevant details; both of these tendencies are traits diagnostic of conspiracist ideation. In three studies, we investigated this hypothesis and failed to find the predicted association between low prior for randomness and conspiracist ideation, even when randomness was explicitly opposed to malevolent human intervention. Conspiracy believers’ and nonbelievers’ perceptions of randomness were not only indistinguishable from each other but also accurate compared with the normative view arising from the algorithmic information framework. Thus, the motto “nothing happens by accident,” taken at face value, does not explain belief in conspiracy theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Psychological Science (0956-7976) is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=pbh&AN=110890218
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1177/0956797615598740
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 9
        StartPage: 1762
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Conspiracy theories
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Psychology of belief & doubt
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Deception
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Charlie Hebdo Shooting, Paris, France, 2015
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Authoritarianism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Psychology students
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Nothing Happens by Accident, or Does It? A Low Prior for Randomness Does Not Explain Belief in Conspiracy Theories.
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Dieguez, Sebastian
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Wagner-Egger, Pascal
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Gauvrit, Nicolas
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 11
              Text: Nov2015
              Type: published
              Y: 2015
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 09567976
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 26
            – Type: issue
              Value: 11
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Psychological Science (0956-7976)
              Type: main
ResultId 1