The relationship between beliefs in conspiracy theories and behavioral trust: A secondary analysis

Abstract

Empirical studies have shown that beliefs in conspiracy theories are associated with low self-reported attitudinal trust in other people in general. However, self-reports do not always re flect actual behaviors. The present study investigates whether beliefs in conspiracy theories are negatively associated with actual trust behavior. We conducted a secondary analysis to examine correlations between conspiracy beliefs and trust behavior measured in a monetarily incentivized economic game (trust game) as well as self-reported attitudinal general trust. The results demonstrated that the more people believed in conspiracy theories, the less they entrusted their money to strangers when there was a risk of being betrayed and losing money. The present research confirms that conspiracy beliefs are associated with low trust regardless of whether trust is self-reported attitude or actual behavior which entails the risk of betrayal.