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Validating a German Version of the Conspiracy Mentality Scale (CMS).
Ana Stojanov1, Annegret Hannawa2
1Higher Education Development Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Journal of Personality Assessment
|December 12, 2022
Summary
This study validates a German version of the Conspiracy Mentality Scale (CMS) to measure the general tendency to believe in conspiracy theories. Findings support its use in understanding conspiracy ideation and skepticism in German-speaking populations.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Science
Background:
- Growing scientific interest in conspiracy beliefs necessitates reliable measurement tools.
- Conspiracy mentality, the general tendency to believe in conspiracy theories, requires validated individual difference measures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present and validate a German language version of the Conspiracy Mentality Scale (CMS).
- To assess the construct validity of the German CMS by examining its correlation with various psychological and social factors.
Main Methods:
- A German version of the CMS was administered to a representative sample of 468 German-speaking Swiss residents.
- Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the scale's structure.
- Correlations were analyzed between CMS scores and measures of trust, social validation, pandemic compliance, literacy, and loneliness.
Main Results:
- Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the original two-dimensional structure of the CMS.
- Conspiracy ideation positively correlated with trust in friends and need for social validation.
- Conspiracy ideation negatively correlated with trust in scientific sources, perceived pandemic severity, and functional literacy.
Conclusions:
- The German version of the Conspiracy Mentality Scale is a valid instrument for measuring conspiracy theory ideation and skepticism.
- The findings contribute to understanding the psychological correlates of conspiracy beliefs in a German-speaking context.
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