Seeing Conspiracy Theorists Everywhere as a Conspiracy Paradox
(2025) Communications Psychology — Vol. 3, n° 115 (2025)
Files
Vermeulen2025eeingconspiracytheoristseverywhereasaconspiracyparadoxCommunicationsPsychology.pdf
Open Access - Adobe PDF
- 376.33 KB
Details
- Authors
- Abstract
- The literature typically distinguishes between two main uses of the term conspiracy: (1) genuine conspiracies, referring to historically and legally validated covert actions (e.g. Watergate or the Dreyfus Affair), and (2) conspiracy theories, defined in psychology as unproven beliefs involving malevolent manipulation by powerful groups (e.g. 5G vaccine fears, moon landing denial, or climate change scepticism). These beliefs are often linked to existential threat and perceived lack of control, and may involve Type 1 errors, false positives, or the acceptance of something as true when it is not. In this Comment, we propose a complementary phenomenon: Protective Conspiracy Framing. Rather than falsely accepting hidden plots, this pattern involves the premature rejection of plausible but unverified hypotheses by labelling them as conspiratorial, a form of Type 2 error (false negative). This reaction may arise from a desire to maintain social cohesion or institutional trust, but can inadvertently reproduce the very logic of suspicion it seeks to avoid. Like classic conspiracy thinking, Protective Conspiracy Framing delegitimizes dissent by portraying it as ideologically threatening, thus constraining epistemic openness and narrowing the scope for legitimate inquiry.
- Affiliations
Citations
Vermeulen, N. (2025). Seeing Conspiracy Theorists Everywhere as a Conspiracy Paradox. Communications Psychology, 3(115). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-025-00298-3 (Original work published 2025)