Reptile prime ministers and flying Nazi saucers-extreme and sometimes off-wall conclusion are typical ingredients of conspiracy theories. While individual differences are a common research topic concerning conspiracy theories, the role of extreme statements in the process of acquiring and passing on conspiratorial stories has not been regarded in an experimental design so far. We identified six...

In the present contribution, we examine the link between societal crisis situations and belief in conspiracy theories. Contrary to common assumptions, belief in conspiracy theories has been prevalent throughout human history. We first illustrate historical incidents suggesting that societal crisis situations-defined as impactful and rapid societal change that calls established power structures,...

Conspiracy theories play a troubling role in political discourse. Online forums provide a valuable window into everyday conspiracy theorizing, and can give a clue to the motivations and interests of those who post in such forums. Yet this online activity can be difficult to quantify and study. We describe a unique approach to studying online conspiracy theorists which used non-negative matrix f...

Social media enabled a direct path from producer to consumer of contents changing the way users get informed, debate, and shape their worldviews. Such a disintermediation might weaken consensus on social relevant issues in favor of rumors, mistrust, or conspiracy thinking-e.g., chem-trails inducing global warming, the link between vaccines and autism, or the New World Order conspiracy. Previous...

Zusammenfassung. Qualitätsmanagement von Software gewinnt in Wirtschaft und Forschung zunehmend an Bedeutung. Deshalb haben verschiedene Institutionen Normen auf diesem Gebiet entwickelt. Diese sollen die betroffenen Unternehmen unterstützen, geeignete Ansätze und Verfahren auszuwählen, sowie nach außen Vertrauen zu schaffen, daß gewisse Mindestanforderungen erfüllt sind. Die vorliegende Arbeit...

We study the role of reciprocity in a labor market field experiment. In a recent paper, Gneezy and List (2006) investigate the impact of gift exchange in this context and find that it has only a transient effect on long run outcomes. Extending their work to examine both positive and negative reciprocity, we find consonant evidence in the positive reciprocity condition: the gift does not work we...

Conspiracies have been a cultural mainstay for decades (Melley). While often framed as an American problem (Melley), social media has contributed to their global reach (Gerts et al.). Bruns, Harrington, and Hurcombe traced the contemporary movement of conspiracy theories into mainstream from fringe conspiracist groups on platforms such Facebook through greater uptake in more diverse communities...

In a (t, n) group-oriented cryptosystem collaboration of at least t participants is required to perform a designated cryptographic operation. This type of cryptographic operation is very important to support an ad-hoc type network, such as the one that is built using Bluetooth or ad-hoc wireless LAN, since the existence of a combiner is not required to decrypt an encrypted message. In the earli...

Given the widespread appeal of conspiratorial beliefs, it is surprising that very little empirical research has examined the psychological variables associated with such beliefs. In the present study, we examined individual and demographic predictors of beliefs in conspiracy theories concerning the September 11, 2001 (9/11) attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon among a representative B...

People with high education are less likely than people with low education to believe in conspiracy theories. It is yet unclear why these effects occur, however, as education predicts a range of cognitive, emotional, and social outcomes. The present research sought to identify mediators of the relationship between education and conspiracy beliefs. Results of Study 1 revealed three independent me...