Lay Attributions of Conspiracy Beliefs Predict Intentions to Correct Conspiracy Believers

What do laypeople think causes conspiracy beliefs? In six correlational<br/>studies (N = 2,024) and a qualitative study (N = 190) we examined<br/>laypeople’s attributions of others’ conspiracy beliefs and how these<br/>attributions predict their intentions to correct conspiracy believers.<br/>Attribution research suggests that dispositional (vs. situational)<br/>attributions should dominate lay beliefs and negatively predict correction<br/>intentions. Dispositional attributions of conspiracy beliefs were indeed<br/>more prevalent than attributions to situational causes, with two<br/>exceptions: Conspiracy beliefs were attributed most strongly to influence<br/>from social media and misinformation. Attributing another person’s<br/>conspiracy beliefs more strongly to social media or misinformation also<br/>predicted intentions to correct this person, more so than other<br/>attributions. Our results suggest that (1) assessing attributions at a more<br/>detailed level than is often done can help uncover yet unobserved nuance<br/>in laypeople’s attributions and (2) encouraging certain attributions of<br/>conspiracy beliefs could help foster their interpersonal correction.