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Voelkel, J. G., Stagnaro, M. N., Chu, J. Y., Pink, S. L., Mernyk, J. S., Redekopp, C. et al. (2024). Megastudy Testing 25 Treatments to Reduce Antidemocratic Attitudes and Partisan Animosity. Science, 386, eadh4764.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adh4764

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: Unmasking Conspiracy Thinking: A Masked Priming Study Testing Belief-Based versus Communication-Based Conspiracy-Theory Endorsement

  AUTHORS: Daniel Gugerell, Sophie Steiner, Ulrich Ansorge

  KEYWORDS: Conspiracy, Masked Priming Paradigm

  JOURNAL NAME: Psychology, Vol.17 No.11, November 9, 2026

  ABSTRACT: Conspiracy theories have become increasingly prevalent in recent years, posing a threat to a democratic discourse. This study investigates whether conspiracy beliefs are internalized and automatically activated (belief-based hypothesis) or strategically used and context-dependent (communication-based hypothesis). Using a masked priming paradigm, 80 participants were presented with conspiracy- or science-related primes, followed by self- or other-referential targets. Reaction times (RTs) and accuracy were recorded, and explicit conspiracy beliefs were assessed using the Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale. No priming effects indicative of the belief-based theory were found. This was also supported by additional analyses, with participants divided by median-split into two groups (conspiracy believers versus non-believers). These results provide no evidence for automatic semantic alignment between conspiracy content and the self, as would be expected under the belief-based hypothesis.