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An examination of the factorial and convergent validity of four measures of conspiracist ideation, with recommendations for researchers

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  • Viren Swami
  • David Barron
  • Laura Weis
  • Martin Voracek
  • Stefan Stieger
  • Adrian Furnham

Abstract

A number scales have been developed to measure conspiracist ideation, but little attention has been paid to the factorial validity of these scales. We reassessed the psychometric properties of four widely-used scales, namely the Belief in Conspiracy Theories Inventory (BCTI), the Conspiracy Mentality Questionnaire (CMQ), the Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale (GCBS), and the One-Item Conspiracy Measure (OICM). Eight-hundred-and-three U.S. adults completed all measures, along with measures of endorsement of 9/11 and anti-vaccination conspiracy theories. Through both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, we found that only the BCTI had acceptable factorial validity. We failed to confirm the factor structures of the CMQ and the GBCS, suggesting these measures had poor factorial validity. Indices of convergent validity were acceptable for the BCTI, but weaker for the other measures. Based on these findings, we provide suggestions for the future refinement in the measurement of conspiracist ideation.

Suggested Citation

  • Viren Swami & David Barron & Laura Weis & Martin Voracek & Stefan Stieger & Adrian Furnham, 2017. "An examination of the factorial and convergent validity of four measures of conspiracist ideation, with recommendations for researchers," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-27, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0172617
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172617
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    Cited by:

    1. Carly Wood & David Barron & Nina Smyth, 2019. "The Current and Retrospective Intentional Nature Exposure Scales: Development and Factorial Validity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-18, November.
    2. Mohammad Atari & Reza Afhami & Viren Swami, 2019. "Psychometric assessments of Persian translations of three measures of conspiracist beliefs," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-18, April.
    3. Jack P Hughes & Alexandros Efstratiou & Sara R Komer & Lilli A Baxter & Milica Vasiljevic & Ana C Leite, 2022. "The impact of risk perceptions and belief in conspiracy theories on COVID-19 pandemic-related behaviours," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(2), pages 1-20, February.
    4. Janet T. Y. Leung & Daniel T. L. Shek & Chak-Man Tang, 2023. "Development and Validation of the Chinese Family Resilience Scale in Families in Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-19, January.
    5. Neophytos Georgiou & Paul Delfabbro & Ryan Balzan, 2021. "Conspiracy-Beliefs and Receptivity to Disconfirmatory Information: A Study Using the BADE Task," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440211, March.
    6. Kenneth Graham Drinkwater & Neil Dagnall & Andrew Denovan & Nick Neave, 2020. "Psychometric assessment of the Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(3), pages 1-19, March.

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