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Changes in conspiracy beliefs are rare, but possible

New study with mostly liberal sample finds that people do change their mind about conspiracy beliefs — but not often.

Springing forth to begin to fill this gap, Matt Williams and team’s latest study took a closer look at just how much, if at all, everyday people’s beliefs in conspiracies change over a specific six month span during which developing them may have been particularly tempting. The study took place from March to September 2021, a period in which Covid-19 vaccinations were being rolled out, and many areas in Australia and New Zealand were still operating under lockdown conditions — according to existing theories, facing such widespread societal threat and uncertainty plausibly made this a time ripe for growth in conspiracy belief. Throughout these six months, participants completed a survey on seven occasions, responding to questions focused on widespread conspiracies, such as SARS-CoV-2 being a bioweapon, 9/11 being an inside job, condensation from planes supposedly being harmful ‘chemtrails’, and vaccinations being a way to implant a chip in people's bodies.

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