Stable Worldviews or Context-Sensitive Systems? Longitudinal Evidence on the Development of Epistemically Suspect Beliefs Across Two Sociopolitical Contexts
PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1177/01461672261463908
- Dergi Adı: PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, Periodicals Index Online, CINAHL, EBSCO Education Source, Education Abstracts, EMBASE, Index Islamicus, MEDLINE, Political Science Complete, Psycinfo, Violence & Abuse Abstracts, Political Science Abstract (IPSA), Social Sciences Abstracts, Social Science Premium Collection (ProQuest), Education Source Ultimate (EBSCO), Health Research Premium Collection (ProQuest), Sociology Source Ultimate (EBSCO)
- Acıbadem Mehmet Ali Aydınlar Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Are epistemically suspect beliefs (ESBs)-including conspiracy, paranormal, and pseudoscientific beliefs-stable worldviews, or do they shift alongside changes in the sociopolitical context? Although often treated as enduring dispositions, little is known about their within-person development or sensitivity to sociopolitical conditions. We address this question using two five-wave panel studies conducted over 2 years in T & uuml;rkiye (N = 595-2,077) and the United Kingdom (N = 350-959). Latent growth models show modest mean-level declines in ESBs alongside strong cross-domain coupling in both levels and trajectories. However, co-development patterns were context-sensitive. In T & uuml;rkiye, within-person increases in perceived corruption covaried with increases in conspiracy beliefs, whereas this pattern did not consistently emerge in the United Kingdom. These findings indicate that ESBs are neither purely static dispositions nor fully context-driven reactions but exhibit a durable cross-domain structure with bounded sensitivity to sociopolitical conditions.