Conspiracy thinking and online surveillance: The rise of the “social vigilante”

Within the framework of the dual self-perception that characterises conspiracy thinking (privileged minority; heroes), this study proposes that conspiracy theorists tend to adopt the role of social vigilantes, seeking to correct the supposed ignorance of others based on what they consider to be superior and inaccessible knowledge. As a result, these individuals end up acting as self-appointed online norm enforcers, often adopting confrontational and punitive behaviours. In light of this, three well-powered studies in Greece and the U.S. (N Total = 443) investigated the relationships between conspiracy thinking, conspiracy beliefs, social vigilantism (the psychological tendency of individuals to impose their superior beliefs on others to correct what they see as ignorance), and online behaviours. The results indicated a moderate positive association between conspiracy variables and social vigilantism. Furthermore, conspiracy variables indirectly predicted online argumentation, online shaming, and social media conflict through the motivational mechanism of social vigilantism. These effects remained significant after controlling for several variables, but were attenuated when narcissistic admiration was included, suggesting that self-enhancement motives may contribute to the adoption of a social vigilante role. The findings are interpreted considering the extant literature.