Anticipating and defusing the role of conspiracy beliefs in shaping opposition to wind farms


Winter, Kevin ; Hornsey, Matthew J. ; Pummerer, Lotte ; Sassenberg, Kai


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01164-w
URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-022-01164-w
Additional URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366206207...
URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:180-madoc-713999
Document Type: Article
Year of publication: 2022
The title of a journal, publication series: Nature Energy
Volume: 7
Issue number: 12
Page range: 1200-1207
Place of publication: London
Publishing house: Nature Publishing Group ; Springer Nature
ISSN: 2058-7546
Publication language: English
Institution: School of Social Sciences > Sozialpsychologie und Mikrosoziologie (Stavrova 2025-)
Pre-existing license: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Subject: 150 Psychology
300 Social sciences, sociology, anthropology
Abstract: Reaching net-zero targets requires massive increases in wind energy production, but efforts to build wind farms can meet stern local opposition. Here, inspired by related work on vaccinations, we examine whether opposition to wind farms is associated with a world view that conspiracies are common (‘conspiracy mentality’). In eight pre-registered studies (collective N = 4,170), we found moderate-to-large relationships between various indices of conspiracy beliefs and wind farm opposition. Indeed, the relationship between wind farm opposition and conspiracy beliefs was many times greater than its relationship with age, gender, education and political orientation. Information provision increased support, even among those high in conspiracy mentality. However, information provision was less effective when it was presented as a debate (that is, including negative arguments) and among participants who endorsed specific conspiracy theories about wind farms. Thus, the data suggest preventive measures are more realistic than informational interventions to curb the potentially negative impact of conspiracy beliefs.




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