The causal impact of conspiracy theories on personal relationships and dating success: When one person expresses conspiracy beliefs, relationship satisfaction decreases—unless both individuals hold similar beliefs.
The causal impact of conspiracy theories on personal relationships and dating success: When one person expresses conspiracy beliefs, relationship satisfaction decreases—unless both individuals hold similar beliefs.
11 Comments
I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jasp.13061
From the linked article:
Scientists reveal the causal impact of conspiracy theories on personal relationships and dating success
New research from the Journal of Applied Social Psychology presents causal evidence that conspiracy beliefs can damage relationships. Using a series of experiments, the study found that when one person expresses conspiracy beliefs, relationship satisfaction decreases—unless both individuals hold similar beliefs. The study moves beyond correlation, offering proof that the endorsement of conspiracy theories can impact the quality of interpersonal connections.
The motivation for the research stems from growing concerns about how conspiracy beliefs, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and surrounding political movements like QAnon, appear to strain interpersonal relationships. While anecdotal evidence suggests that conspiracy beliefs can lead to relationship breakdowns, there has been limited empirical research on this phenomenon.
In line with the pilot studies, participants reported significantly lower relationship satisfaction with the person they perceived to hold conspiracy beliefs, compared to the non-believer. Additionally, participants felt less attitudinal and relational closeness with the conspiracy believer, suggesting that differences in attitudes, especially related to conspiracy theories, might strain relationships.
The results showed that participants anticipated lower relationship satisfaction with someone who explicitly endorsed a conspiracy theory compared to those who either rejected the conspiracy theory or made no mention of it. This negative effect was strongest among participants with weaker conspiracy beliefs. Interestingly, participants’ own political orientation did not significantly influence these results, suggesting that the effects of conspiracy beliefs on relationship satisfaction extend beyond mere political alignment.
I’m sensing there’s a conspiracy here
That’s very, uh, not-surprising.
I enjoy playing with conspiracies, being entertained by the possibilities. There are conspiracies everywhere, small groups of people working quietly, or not, to bring about a desired result. There is evidence of many conspiracies, especially in the market place. I seldom talk about my beliefs unless there is a mutual interest.
If youve ever spoken to a conspiracy brain then this makes sense. We tolerate them in society. They are reality deniers. And their worse than evangelizers, they pretty much arent ok with those close to them not also believing in the conspiracies.
They needed a scientific study to tell them that relationships suffer when a couple doesn’t share the same beliefs?
I don’t believe this for a second.
Oh so research encouraging them to push their beliefs on others wonderful
Some could argue their shared views on skydaddys aren’t so different
Forget where I saw this but in any relationship there’s the concept of “bidding” I think where you put a thought or idea out there and it’s either affirmed or not by the other person.
Basically, this probably holds true for any generic belief that’s shared or not shared by the other person.
Imagine being married to someone who suddenly insists on eating only biodynamic. Starts with the food, adopts a fake German accents and talks about purity of blood and hierachy of races and then goes full Atlantis idiot.