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X Demographics
Mendeley readers
Attention Score in Context
| Title |
Beliefs in conspiracy theories and the need for cognitive closure
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Frontiers in Psychology, January 2013
|
| DOI | 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00378 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Patrick J. Leman, Marco Cinnirella |
| Abstract |
An important component of conspiracy theories is how they influence, and are influenced by, the evaluation of potential evidence. Some individuals may be more open minded regarding certain explanations for events whereas others may seek closure and thus cut off a conspiracy explanation. Two studies examined the relationship between the need for cognitive closure (NFCC), levels of belief in real world conspiracy theories, and the attribution of conspiracy theories to explain events. A first, small (N = 30) and preliminary study found no relationship between NFCC and beliefs in conspiracy theories, suggesting that both advocates and opponents of conspiracy explanations do not differ on this dimension. A second study (N = 86) revealed that evidence for and against conspiracy theories had an influence on attributions of the likelihood of a conspiracy to explain a novel event. Specifically, after reading evidence individuals with high levels of belief in conspiracy theories tended to rate a conspiracy explanation as more likely whereas those with low levels of belief rated it as less likely. However, when the need for cognitive closure (NFCC) was experimentally lowered the effects of prior beliefs in conspiracy theories diminished. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 19 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 4 | 21% |
| United States | 3 | 16% |
| Mexico | 1 | 5% |
| Canada | 1 | 5% |
| New Zealand | 1 | 5% |
| Ireland | 1 | 5% |
| Unknown | 8 | 42% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 16 | 84% |
| Scientists | 3 | 16% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 268 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 2 | <1% |
| India | 1 | <1% |
| France | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 264 | 99% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 49 | 18% |
| Student > Master | 37 | 14% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 32 | 12% |
| Researcher | 29 | 11% |
| Professor > Associate Professor | 13 | 5% |
| Other | 46 | 17% |
| Unknown | 62 | 23% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 116 | 43% |
| Social Sciences | 35 | 13% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 8 | 3% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 6 | 2% |
| Arts and Humanities | 5 | 2% |
| Other | 27 | 10% |
| Unknown | 71 | 26% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 74. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 21 February 2024.
All research outputs
#581,467
of 25,545,162 outputs
Outputs from Frontiers in Psychology
#1,200
of 34,622 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#4,099
of 289,760 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Frontiers in Psychology
#64
of 967 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,545,162 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 34,622 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 13.3. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 289,760 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 967 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 93% of its contemporaries.