Conspiracy Beliefs as a Metacognitive Dimension of Intergroup Attitudes: A Novel Framework for Interventions

Apart from their well‐established associations with individual characteristics, experiences of existential threats and either objective or perceived structural circumstances in which people live, conspiracy beliefs are now being increasingly recognised as a reflection of group‐related motivations, identity‐protective motives, prejudice and stereotypes. As conspiracy beliefs and intergroup attitudes share definitional characteristics as well as extensive networks of social, psychological and contextual correlates, their content and function allow us to see them as an intergroup phenomenon. To provide a more nuanced understanding of conspiracy beliefs, we situate them within the tripartite model of intergroup attitudes as an additional, metacognitive dimension. Drawing from their metacognitive character as often biased insights into outgroups’ intentions and actions, and expanding the socio‐functional model of prejudice, we propose an operational research roadmap that specifies when and for which conspiracy beliefs the intergroup‐based approach is likely to be effective.