Connecting the dots: Illusory pattern perception predicts belief in conspiracies and the supernatural.
Abstract: A common assumption is that belief in conspiracy theories and supernatural phenomena are grounded in illusory pattern perception. In the present research we systematically tested this assumption. Study 1 revealed that such irrational beliefs are related to perceiving patterns in randomly g...
| Publicado en: | European Journal of Social Psychology Vol. 48; no. 3; pp. 320 - 321 |
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| Autores principales: | , , |
| Formato: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Wiley-Blackwell
Apr2018
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=128731053&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 128731053 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 00462772 58Q jtl: European Journal of Social Psychology issn: 00462772 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Apr2018 vid: 48 iid: 3 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell place: Malden, Massachusetts artinfo: ui: 128731053 128731053 128731053 10.1002/ejsp.2331 128731053 ppf: 320 ppct: 1 formats: tig: atl: Connecting the dots: Illusory pattern perception predicts belief in conspiracies and the supernatural. aug: au: van Prooijen, Jan‐Willem Douglas, Karen M. De Inocencio, Clara affil: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands sug: subj: Superstitions Attitude to Life Mental Processes Human Spirituality Parapsychology Cognition ab: Abstract: A common assumption is that belief in conspiracy theories and supernatural phenomena are grounded in illusory pattern perception. In the present research we systematically tested this assumption. Study 1 revealed that such irrational beliefs are related to perceiving patterns in randomly generated coin toss outcomes. In Study 2, pattern search instructions exerted an indirect effect on irrational beliefs through pattern perception. Study 3 revealed that perceiving patterns in chaotic but not in structured paintings predicted irrational beliefs. In Study 4, we found that agreement with texts supporting paranormal phenomena or conspiracy theories predicted pattern perception. In Study 5, we manipulated belief in a specific conspiracy theory. This manipulation influenced the extent to which people perceive patterns in world events, which in turn predicted unrelated irrational beliefs. We conclude that illusory pattern perception is a central cognitive mechanism accounting for conspiracy theories and supernatural beliefs. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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