Luisa Liekefett

Osnabrück University | UOS · Social Psychology

Research suggests that conspiracy beliefs are adopted because they promise to reduce anxiety, uncertainty, and threat. However, little research has investigated whether conspiracy beliefs actually fulfill these promises. We conducted two longitudinal studies ( N Study 1 = 405, N Study 2 = 1,012) to examine how conspiracy beliefs result from, and in...

This Stage 2 Registered Report concerns the relationship between rumination, a repetitive style of negative thinking, and conspiracy beliefs (Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/y82bs, date of in-principle-acceptance: 23/05/2023). Based on four pilot studies, we tested in a fifth, registered study whether brooding, a particularly dysfunctional form of...

To reduce the spread of COVID-19, adherence to protective measures was crucial around the world. While most complied with these measures, a vocal minority protested against them. Early reports emphasized the unusual heterogeneity of these protests: Hippies and esoterics marched alongside conspiracy theorists and neo-Nazis. We examined what these pr...

This preregistered research analyzed survey data from ethnic and religious advantaged groups in 12 countries (N = 2,304) to examine the interplay between two determinants of support for social change toward intergroup equality. Drawing on the needs-based model and the common-ingroup identity model, we hypothesized that the experience of accepting i...

During the coronavirus pandemic, governments across the globe ordered physical-distancing and hygiene restrictions to slow down the spread of COVID-19. The present work was conducted during the peak of restrictions in Germany (April/May 2020). In a convenient (N = 218) and representative sample (N = 715), we examined people's motivations to comply...

Traditional definitions of political ideology state that right‐wingers support system stability, whereas left‐wingers support social change. However, during the last decade many right‐wing movements have been on the rise and demanded far‐reaching changes. We argue that both left‐, and right‐wing protestors reject the status quo, and are motivated t...