Loneliness trajectories over three decades are associated with conspiracist worldviews in midlife
In the age of misinformation, conspiracy theories can have far-reaching consequences for individuals and society. Social and emotional experiences throughout the life course, such as loneliness, may be associated with a tendency to hold conspiracist worldviews. Here, we present results from a popula...
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Published in | Nature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; p. 3629 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
London
Nature Publishing Group UK
29.04.2024
Nature Publishing Group Nature Portfolio |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | In the age of misinformation, conspiracy theories can have far-reaching consequences for individuals and society. Social and emotional experiences throughout the life course, such as loneliness, may be associated with a tendency to hold conspiracist worldviews. Here, we present results from a population-based sample of Norwegians followed for almost three decades, from adolescence into midlife (
N
= 2215). We examine participants’ life trajectories of loneliness using latent growth curve modeling. We show that people reporting high levels of loneliness in adolescence, and those who experience increasing loneliness over the life course, are more likely to endorse conspiracy worldviews in midlife.
Here, the authors show that elevated loneliness in adolescence and increasing loneliness over three decades is associated with heightened conspiracy beliefs in midlife. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 2041-1723 2041-1723 |
DOI: | 10.1038/s41467-024-47113-x |