Victims of Conspiracies? An Examination of the Relationship Between Conspiracy Beliefs and Dispositional Individual Victimhood

Daniel Toribio-Flórez; Marlene S. Altenmüller; Karen M. Douglas; Mario Gollwitzer; Indro Adinugroho; Mark Alfano; Denisa Apriliawati; Flavio Azevedo; Cornelia Betsch; Olga Białobrzeska; Amélie Bret; André Calero Valdez; Viktoria Cologna; Gabriela Czarnek; Sylvain Delouvée; Kimberly C. Doell; Simone Dohle; Dmitrii Dubrov; Małgorzata Dzimińska; Christian T. Elbaek; Matthew Facciani; Antoinette Fage-Butler; Marinus Ferreira; Malte Friese; Simon Fuglsang; Albina Gallyamova; Patricia Garrido-Vásquez; Mauricio E.Garrido Vásquez; Oliver Genschow; Omid Ghasemi; Theofilos Gkinopoulos; Claudia González Brambila; Hazel Clare Gordon; Dmitry Grigoryev; Alma Cristal Hernández-Mondragón; Tao Jin; Sebastian Jungkunz; Dominika Jurgiel; John R. Kerr; Lilian Kojan; Elizaveta Komyaginskaya; Claus Lamm; Jean Baptiste Légal; Neil Levy; Mathew D. Marques; Sabrina J. Mayer; Niels G. Mede; Taciano L. Milfont; Panagiotis Mitkidis; Jonas P. Nitschke; Mariola Paruzel-Czachura; Michal Parzuchowski; Ekaterina Pronizius; Katarzyna Pypno-Blajda; Gabriel Gaudencio Rêgo; Robert M. Ross; Philipp Schmid; Samantha K. Stanley; Stylianos Syropoulos; Ewa Szumowska; Claudia Teran-Escobar; Boryana Todorova; Iris Vilares; Izabela Warwas; Marcel Weber; Mareike Westfal; Adrian Dominik Wojcik

doi:10.1002/ejsp.70008

Victims of Conspiracies? An Examination of the Relationship Between Conspiracy Beliefs and Dispositional Individual Victimhood

Daniel Toribio-Flórez
, Marlene S. Altenmüller
, Karen M. Douglas
, Mario Gollwitzer
, Indro Adinugroho
, Mark Alfano
, Denisa Apriliawati
, Flavio Azevedo
, Cornelia Betsch
, Olga Białobrzeska
, Amélie Bret
, André Calero Valdez
, Viktoria Cologna
, Gabriela Czarnek
, Sylvain Delouvée
, Kimberly C. Doell
, Simone Dohle
, Dmitrii Dubrov
, Małgorzata Dzimińska
, Christian T. Elbaek

Matthew Facciani, Antoinette Fage-Butler, Marinus Ferreira, Malte Friese, Simon Fuglsang, Albina Gallyamova, Patricia Garrido-Vásquez, Mauricio E.Garrido Vásquez, Oliver Genschow, Omid Ghasemi, Theofilos Gkinopoulos, Claudia González Brambila, Hazel Clare Gordon, Dmitry Grigoryev, Alma Cristal Hernández-Mondragón, Tao Jin, Sebastian Jungkunz, Dominika Jurgiel, John R. Kerr, Lilian Kojan, Elizaveta Komyaginskaya, Claus Lamm, Jean Baptiste Légal, Neil Levy, Mathew D. Marques, Sabrina J. Mayer, Niels G. Mede, Taciano L. Milfont, Panagiotis Mitkidis, Jonas P. Nitschke, Mariola Paruzel-Czachura, Michal Parzuchowski, Ekaterina Pronizius, Katarzyna Pypno-Blajda, Gabriel Gaudencio Rêgo, Robert M. Ross, Philipp Schmid, Samantha K. Stanley, Stylianos Syropoulos, Ewa Szumowska, Claudia Teran-Escobar, Boryana Todorova, Iris Vilares, Izabela Warwas, Marcel Weber, Mareike Westfal, Adrian Dominik Wojcik

Psychology (Twin Cities)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Conspiracy beliefs have been linked to perceptions of collective victimhood. We adopt an individual perspective on victimhood by investigating the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and the individual disposition to perceive and react to injustice as a victim, i.e., victim justice sensitivity (VJS). Data from two German samples (Ns = 370, 373) indicated a positive association between VJS and conspiracy mentality beyond conceptually related covariates (e.g., mistrust). In a multinational sample from 15 countries (N = 14,978), VJS was positively associated with both general and specific conspiracy beliefs (about vaccines and climate change) within countries, though these associations varied across countries. However, economic, sociopolitical and cultural country-level factors that might explain the cross-country variability (e.g., GDP, Human Freedom Index, individualism–collectivism), including indices of collective exposure to direct violence, did not moderate the studied associations. Future research should investigate the relationship between victimhood and conspiracy beliefs, considering both intraindividual and intergroup perspectives.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1252-1269
Number of pages	18
Journal	European Journal of Social Psychology
Volume	55
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.70008
State	Published - Dec 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s). European Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

Keywords

conspiracy beliefs
conspiracy theories
victim justice sensitivity
victimhood

Publisher link

10.1002/ejsp.70008

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Toribio-Flórez, D., Altenmüller, M. S., Douglas, K. M., Gollwitzer, M., Adinugroho, I., Alfano, M., Apriliawati, D., Azevedo, F., Betsch, C., Białobrzeska, O., Bret, A., Valdez, A. C., Cologna, V., Czarnek, G., Delouvée, S., Doell, K. C., Dohle, S., Dubrov, D., Dzimińska, M., ... Wojcik, A. D. (2025). Victims of Conspiracies? An Examination of the Relationship Between Conspiracy Beliefs and Dispositional Individual Victimhood. European Journal of Social Psychology, 55(7), 1252-1269. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.70008

Toribio-Flórez, D, Altenmüller, MS, Douglas, KM, Gollwitzer, M, Adinugroho, I, Alfano, M, Apriliawati, D, Azevedo, F, Betsch, C, Białobrzeska, O, Bret, A, Valdez, AC, Cologna, V, Czarnek, G, Delouvée, S, Doell, KC, Dohle, S, Dubrov, D, Dzimińska, M, Elbaek, CT, Facciani, M, Fage-Butler, A, Ferreira, M, Friese, M, Fuglsang, S, Gallyamova, A, Garrido-Vásquez, P, Vásquez, MEG, Genschow, O, Ghasemi, O, Gkinopoulos, T, Brambila, CG, Gordon, HC, Grigoryev, D, Hernández-Mondragón, AC, Jin, T, Jungkunz, S, Jurgiel, D, Kerr, JR, Kojan, L, Komyaginskaya, E, Lamm, C, Légal, JB, Levy, N, Marques, MD, Mayer, SJ, Mede, NG, Milfont, TL, Mitkidis, P, Nitschke, JP, Paruzel-Czachura, M, Parzuchowski, M, Pronizius, E, Pypno-Blajda, K, Rêgo, GG, Ross, RM, Schmid, P, Stanley, SK, Syropoulos, S, Szumowska, E, Teran-Escobar, C, Todorova, B, Vilares, I, Warwas, I, Weber, M, Westfal, M & Wojcik, AD 2025, 'Victims of Conspiracies? An Examination of the Relationship Between Conspiracy Beliefs and Dispositional Individual Victimhood', European Journal of Social Psychology, vol. 55, no. 7, pp. 1252-1269. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.70008

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title = "Victims of Conspiracies? An Examination of the Relationship Between Conspiracy Beliefs and Dispositional Individual Victimhood",

abstract = "Conspiracy beliefs have been linked to perceptions of collective victimhood. We adopt an individual perspective on victimhood by investigating the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and the individual disposition to perceive and react to injustice as a victim, i.e., victim justice sensitivity (VJS). Data from two German samples (Ns = 370, 373) indicated a positive association between VJS and conspiracy mentality beyond conceptually related covariates (e.g., mistrust). In a multinational sample from 15 countries (N = 14,978), VJS was positively associated with both general and specific conspiracy beliefs (about vaccines and climate change) within countries, though these associations varied across countries. However, economic, sociopolitical and cultural country-level factors that might explain the cross-country variability (e.g., GDP, Human Freedom Index, individualism{\textendash}collectivism), including indices of collective exposure to direct violence, did not moderate the studied associations. Future research should investigate the relationship between victimhood and conspiracy beliefs, considering both intraindividual and intergroup perspectives.",

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note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s). European Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley \& Sons Ltd.",

year = "2025",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1002/ejsp.70008",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "55",

pages = "1252--1269",

journal = "European Journal of Social Psychology",

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publisher = "John Wiley and Sons Ltd",

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AU - Toribio-Flórez, Daniel

AU - Altenmüller, Marlene S.

AU - Douglas, Karen M.

AU - Gollwitzer, Mario

AU - Adinugroho, Indro

AU - Alfano, Mark

AU - Apriliawati, Denisa

AU - Azevedo, Flavio

AU - Betsch, Cornelia

AU - Białobrzeska, Olga

AU - Bret, Amélie

AU - Valdez, André Calero

AU - Cologna, Viktoria

AU - Czarnek, Gabriela

AU - Delouvée, Sylvain

AU - Doell, Kimberly C.

AU - Dohle, Simone

AU - Dubrov, Dmitrii

AU - Dzimińska, Małgorzata

AU - Elbaek, Christian T.

AU - Facciani, Matthew

AU - Fage-Butler, Antoinette

AU - Ferreira, Marinus

AU - Friese, Malte

AU - Fuglsang, Simon

AU - Gallyamova, Albina

AU - Garrido-Vásquez, Patricia

AU - Vásquez, Mauricio E.Garrido

AU - Genschow, Oliver

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AU - Gkinopoulos, Theofilos

AU - Brambila, Claudia González

AU - Gordon, Hazel Clare

AU - Grigoryev, Dmitry

AU - Hernández-Mondragón, Alma Cristal

AU - Jin, Tao

AU - Jungkunz, Sebastian

AU - Jurgiel, Dominika

AU - Kerr, John R.

AU - Kojan, Lilian

AU - Komyaginskaya, Elizaveta

AU - Lamm, Claus

AU - Légal, Jean Baptiste

AU - Levy, Neil

AU - Marques, Mathew D.

AU - Mayer, Sabrina J.

AU - Mede, Niels G.

AU - Milfont, Taciano L.

AU - Mitkidis, Panagiotis

AU - Nitschke, Jonas P.

AU - Paruzel-Czachura, Mariola

AU - Parzuchowski, Michal

AU - Pronizius, Ekaterina

AU - Pypno-Blajda, Katarzyna

AU - Rêgo, Gabriel Gaudencio

AU - Ross, Robert M.

AU - Schmid, Philipp

AU - Stanley, Samantha K.

AU - Syropoulos, Stylianos

AU - Szumowska, Ewa

AU - Teran-Escobar, Claudia

AU - Todorova, Boryana

AU - Vilares, Iris

AU - Warwas, Izabela

AU - Weber, Marcel

AU - Westfal, Mareike

AU - Wojcik, Adrian Dominik

PY - 2025/12

Y1 - 2025/12

N2 - Conspiracy beliefs have been linked to perceptions of collective victimhood. We adopt an individual perspective on victimhood by investigating the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and the individual disposition to perceive and react to injustice as a victim, i.e., victim justice sensitivity (VJS). Data from two German samples (Ns = 370, 373) indicated a positive association between VJS and conspiracy mentality beyond conceptually related covariates (e.g., mistrust). In a multinational sample from 15 countries (N = 14,978), VJS was positively associated with both general and specific conspiracy beliefs (about vaccines and climate change) within countries, though these associations varied across countries. However, economic, sociopolitical and cultural country-level factors that might explain the cross-country variability (e.g., GDP, Human Freedom Index, individualism–collectivism), including indices of collective exposure to direct violence, did not moderate the studied associations. Future research should investigate the relationship between victimhood and conspiracy beliefs, considering both intraindividual and intergroup perspectives.

AB - Conspiracy beliefs have been linked to perceptions of collective victimhood. We adopt an individual perspective on victimhood by investigating the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and the individual disposition to perceive and react to injustice as a victim, i.e., victim justice sensitivity (VJS). Data from two German samples (Ns = 370, 373) indicated a positive association between VJS and conspiracy mentality beyond conceptually related covariates (e.g., mistrust). In a multinational sample from 15 countries (N = 14,978), VJS was positively associated with both general and specific conspiracy beliefs (about vaccines and climate change) within countries, though these associations varied across countries. However, economic, sociopolitical and cultural country-level factors that might explain the cross-country variability (e.g., GDP, Human Freedom Index, individualism–collectivism), including indices of collective exposure to direct violence, did not moderate the studied associations. Future research should investigate the relationship between victimhood and conspiracy beliefs, considering both intraindividual and intergroup perspectives.

KW - conspiracy beliefs

KW - conspiracy theories

KW - victim justice sensitivity

KW - victimhood

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105011080948

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105011080948#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1002/ejsp.70008

DO - 10.1002/ejsp.70008

M3 - Article

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AN - SCOPUS:105011080948

SN - 0046-2772

VL - 55

SP - 1252

EP - 1269

JO - European Journal of Social Psychology

JF - European Journal of Social Psychology

IS - 7

ER -

Victims of Conspiracies? An Examination of the Relationship Between Conspiracy Beliefs and Dispositional Individual Victimhood

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

Publisher link

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