ABSTRACT
Why do some people believe many conspiracy theories, while other people disbelieve most of them? The question of what drives people’s subjective beliefs about the world is the domain of psychology. Furthermore, given that most people who are susceptible to conspiracy theories are regular citizens who have no mental health problems, the study of what determines people’s belief or disbelief in conspiracy theories is the domain of social psychology (see Chapter 1.9). Social psychology is defined as ‘the branch of psychology dedicated to the study of how people think about, influence and relate to each other’ (Sutton, Douglas 2013: 7). As such, social psychology is the study of how ordinary people think, feel and act in their everyday lives.
