Conspiracy theories and strategic sophistication: an online study

Abstract The prevalence of conspiracy theories is a concern in western countries, yet the phenomenon is rarely addressed in experimental economics. In two preregistered online studies (N Study 1 = 97, N Study 2 = 203) we examine the relationship between exposure to conspiracy modes of thinking, self-reported conspiracy mentality, self-reported manipulativeness, and behaviour in an economic game that measures strategic sophistication. Part of our design was based on Balafoutas et al. (2021), who found a positive relationship between exposure to conspiracy modes of thinking and strategic sophistication. Our results did not corroborate their findings in an online setting. Our measures of conspiracy mentality were modestly correlated with strategic sophistication in Study 2, but not in Study 1. Although we expected manipulativeness to be positively associated with both conspiracy mentality and strategic sophistication—thereby linking conspiracy mentality and strategic sophistication indirectly—it was only associated with conspiracy mentality.