Maybe freethinker but not critical: high conspiracy beliefs are associated with low critical thinking skills
First published: January 13, 2021 https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3790
Commentary
Having critical thinking is one of the most important things in our social life.
Previous research has not found a relationship between critical thinking and conspiracy beliefs, but people do believe that critical thinking may reduce conspiracy beliefs.
In order to prove this hypothesis, two studies were conducted. (Study 1, N = 86; Study 2, N = 252)
Here, we found that critical thinking ability (as measured by an open-ended test that emphasizes several areas of critical thinking ability in the context of an argument) was negatively related to conspiracy beliefs, and no significant relationship was found between self-reported (subjective) critical thinking ability and conspiracy beliefs.
This result supports the idea that conspiracy believers do not have well-developed critical thinking skills and highlights the possibility of reducing conspiracy beliefs through the development of critical thinking.