The Social Psychology of Gullibility: Conspiracy Theories, Fake News and Irrational Beliefs

Cover......Page 1
Half Title......Page 2
Series Page......Page 3
Title Page......Page 10
Copyright Page......Page 11
Table of Contents......Page 12
List of Contributors......Page 15
Introduction......Page 18
The Functions of Gullibility......Page 22
Psychological Mechanisms of Gullibility......Page 24
Overview of the Volume......Page 30
References......Page 34
PART I: The Nature and Functions of Credulity......Page 36
Chapter 2: The Mask of Love and Sexual Gullibility......Page 38
Love and Irrationality......Page 40
The Mask of Love: Helping Gullibility Along......Page 41
Female Gullibility?......Page 43
Male Gullibility......Page 44
Female Sex Drive as Mask of Love......Page 46
Sexual Economics and Different Understandings......Page 50
Conclusion......Page 52
References......Page 53
Chapter 3: Gullible but Functional? Information Repetition and the Formation of Beliefs......Page 59
Repetition-Induced Truth......Page 60
A History of the Repetition-Induced Truth Effect......Page 61
Why Repetition-Induced Truth May Be Functional......Page 69
Detrimental Effects of Repetition-Induced Truth......Page 72
Is Repetition-Induced Truth Avoidable?......Page 73
References......Page 74
Chapter 4: Belief in Conspiracy Theories: Looking Beyond Gullibility......Page 78
Epistemic Motives......Page 79
Existential Motives......Page 82
Social Motives......Page 84
How Well Do Conspiracy Theories Satisfy Psychological Motives?......Page 86
Summary and Future Directions......Page 87
References......Page 89
Gullibility and Misinformation Writ Large:
The U.S. Example......Page 94
Explaining Gullibility and Misinformation......Page 99
Group Polarization......Page 107
Conclusion: Gullibility and Humility......Page 110
References......Page 111
PART II: Cognitive Processes and Gullibility......Page 118
Chapter 6: Towards a Credible Theory of Gullibility......Page 120
The Gullibility Game......Page 121
Epistemology and Induction......Page 122
The Power of the Given Stimulus......Page 124
The Return of the Prior Belief......Page 127
Evidence Checked......Page 129
Gullibility Without a Guller: The Case ofIrrational Trust......Page 130
Notes......Page 132
References......Page 133
Introduction......Page 140
Metacognition Highlights the Individual’s Responsibility......Page 142
Conclusions: Gullibility, Myopia, and Social Responsibility......Page 152
References......Page 153
The Gullible Mind......Page 157
The Condition for Successful Negation......Page 159
Negation as a Primary Process......Page 163
Associations......Page 164
The Underlying Process......Page 166
The Skeptical Mind: Not Being Influenced by Incoming Information......Page 167
Conclusion: The Gullibility of the Mind Is Context-Dependent......Page 170
References......Page 171
Gullibility: Heuristically Generated......Page 176
From Heuristics to Social Influence: Exploiting Gullibility......Page 178
Social Cognition......Page 179
Gullibility from the Perspective of the Reflective Impulsive Model (RIM)......Page 181
Comparisons in Social Settings as a Source of Gullibility......Page 184
Assimilation versus Contrast Explained......Page 185
The Ease of Forming Comparative Judgments......Page 186
Comparative Judgments in the Ultimatum Game......Page 187
Conclusions......Page 190
References......Page 191
PART III: Affective and Motivational Processes and Gullibility......Page 194
Introduction......Page 196
Can Mood Influence Gullibility?......Page 198
Mood Effects on Bullshit Receptivity......Page 199
Mood Effects on the Truth Bias in Believing Urban Myths......Page 201
Mood Effects on Detecting Deception......Page 203
Mood Effects on Eyewitness Gullibility......Page 206
Discussion......Page 208
Acknowledgement......Page 210
References......Page 211
Chapter 11: Gullible or Streetwise: How Does the Self Bias Information Processing?......Page 215
Interpersonal Communication......Page 216
Social Perception......Page 217
Ownership......Page 218
Memory......Page 219
Decision-Making......Page 221
Self-Ownership Effect......Page 223
Culture......Page 225
Conclusion......Page 227
References......Page 229
Chapter 12: Gullible to Ourselves......Page 234
Overbelief in Self......Page 235
Advice......Page 239
Differential Treatment of Self-Thought......Page 243
Managing Our Opinions......Page 245
References......Page 247
Chapter 13: The Smell of Suspicion: How the Nose Curbs Gullibility......Page 251
Smell and Suspicion......Page 252
Fishy Smells Curb Social Cooperation......Page 253
Fishy Smells Curb Gullibility......Page 255
Suspicion Increases Sensitivity to Fishy Smells......Page 260
Perspectives on Gullibility......Page 261
References......Page 265
PART IV: Social and Cultural Aspects of Gullibility......Page 270
Introduction......Page 272
Culture-as-Situated Cognition Theory......Page 273
Cultural Fluency and Disfluency......Page 276
Cultural Fluency Matters for Gullibility: Inherence......Page 278
Cultural Fluency Matters for Gullibility: Reasoning......Page 283
Cultural Fluency Matters for Gullibility:
Mindless Consumption......Page 286
Future Directions: Cultural Fluency, Gullibility,
and Credulity......Page 288
References......Page 291
Chapter 15: Scientific Gullibility......Page 296
Overview......Page 297
Methods, Statistics, and Their Interpretation......Page 298
The Psychology of Scientific Gullibility......Page 299
Evidence of Scientific Gullibility......Page 304
Reducing Scientific Gullibility......Page 309
Conclusion......Page 313
References......Page 314
An Infamous Case of Gullibility......Page 321
Toward an Operational Definition of Gullibility......Page 322
The Envelope of Legitimacy......Page 326
Empirical Research......Page 329
Conclusion......Page 334
References......Page 335
Chapter 17: Belief in Conspiracy Theories: Gullibility or Rational Skepticism?......Page 336
Belief in Conspiracy Theories......Page 338
Conspiracy Theories and Cognitive Style......Page 343
Discussion and Conclusion......Page 344
Notes......Page 346
References......Page 347
Index......Page 350