Belief in Information Conspiracy and Personality Traits of Generations X and Y

Abstract

The article presents the results of comparing the belief in information conspiracies in connection with personality traits among representatives of Generations Y and X, nationalities – the Russians and the Kumyks. We call information conspiracies those that are presented in the information space and are presented as close to reality. Therefore, users who get acquainted with information conspiracies do not doubt and believe in them. The sample was presented by the Russian university students and middle-aged working people. The questionnaire of conspiracy mentality (CMQ) (Bruder, Haffke) and the FPI technique (Farenberg, Zarg and Gampel) have been applied. It was revealed that the older the generation, the more it believes in the state conspiracy; generations have stable beliefs about the presence of a political conspiracy; the representatives of the Kumyk group are more prone to exaggeration of the importance of conspiracy than the group of the Russians generation Y; the personality trait “irritability” correlates with the scale of belief in public conspiracy; there was a negative dependence of emotional lability and belief in a political conspiracy. The results are compared with the data of foreign studies on the samples of representatives of the USA, Great Britain, Turkey, Germany. It was concluded that it is possible to observe cultural and intergenerational differences in expression of conspiracy mentality. Representatives of Generation Y believe more in political and public conspiracies. Representatives of Generation X believe more in public conspiracy and secret organizations.