People who believe implausible claims are not cognitive misers: Evidence from evaluation tasks

Belief in epistemically implausible claims, such as climate change is a hoax and vaccines are harmful, is a pervasive problem. We test the idea that people who believe such claims possess a generally lazy thinking style (the miserly hypothesis). Across three studies, we compared believers and nonbel...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of applied research in memory and cognition
Main Authors Robson, Samuel G., Faasse, Kate, Gordon, Eliza-Rose, Jones, Samuel P., Smith, Natasha, Martire, Kristy A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washigton Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition 19.09.2024
Subjects
Cognitive Processes
Cognitive Style
Conspiracy Beliefs
Experience Level
Female
Human
Legal Evidence
Male
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Summary:Belief in epistemically implausible claims, such as climate change is a hoax and vaccines are harmful, is a pervasive problem. We test the idea that people who believe such claims possess a generally lazy thinking style (the miserly hypothesis). Across three studies, we compared believers and nonbelievers of implausible claims using evidence evaluation tasks involving fictitious scenarios. Study 1 focused on high- and low-quality evidence from a forensic expert, whereas Study 2 involved evidence in a medical setting. Study 3 assessed the effect of time constraints on evaluations. We found little evidence for the miserly hypothesis; believers and nonbelievers did not significantly differ in their sensitivity to high- and low-quality evidence, and both groups’ evaluations were equally affected by time constraints. Both believers and nonbelievers displayed a tendency for effortful, analytic thinking. Our findings challenge the notion that believing implausible claims is rooted in a general lack of effortful thinking. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)
ISSN:2211-3681
2211-369X
DOI:10.1037/mac0000190