Peter Kreko

Eötvös Loránd University · Department of Social Psychology

A rendszerigazoló tendenciák fenntartásában és létezésében nagyon komoly szerepe van azoknak az ideológiai képzeteknek, melyek a hatalmon lévő csoportok privilegizált pozícióját indokolják és magyarázzák (Jost és Banaji, 1999; Hunyady, 2021). A hatalmi viszonyok lebontásában pedig azoknak a status quo-t kikezdő, hierarchiagyengítő legitimáló mítosz...

The present online intervention promoted family-based prosocial values—in terms of helping family members—among young adults to build resistance against fake news. This preregistered randomized controlled trial study is among the first psychological fake news interventions in Eastern Europe, where the free press is weak and state-sponsored misinfor...

“Why do people believe blatantly inaccurate news headlines? Do we use our reasoning abilities to convince ourselves that statements that align with our ideology are true, or does reasoning allow us to effectively differentiate fake from real regardless of political ideology?” These were the questions of Pennycook and Rand (2019), and they are more...

In contrast to prior individuum-focused interventions, the online randomized controlled trial presented here motivated young adults through family bonds to build resistance against fake news. This preregistered study is the first psychological fake news intervention in Eastern Europe, where the free press is weak and state-sponsored misinformation...

Conservative voters have difficulties distinguishing fake from real news. In Hungarian representative data ( N = 991) we found voters of the reigning populist, conservative party rated misinformation more accurate than real ones independently from the news’ political leaning and content. The question arises: what can psychological science do to mak...

Régiónkban a koronavírus-járvány harmadik és negyedik hulláma tette minden korábbinál egyértelműbbé: a pandémia legalább annyira társadalmi, mint biológiai jelenség. A vírus és az információs "járvány", a pandémia és az infodémia ördögi körben erősítették egymást. A részben a tudósok ajánlásait követő korlátozó intézkedések megosztják a társadalmak...

People differ in their general tendency to endorse conspiracy theories (that is, conspiracy mentality). Previous research yielded inconsistent findings on the relationship between conspiracy mentality and political orientation, showing a greater conspiracy mentality either among the political right (a linear relation) or amongst both the left and r...

While the institutional aspects of the illiberal shift in Hungary since 2010 have received notable scholarly attention, less analysis has dealt with the informational aspects of this de-democratization trend. In this article, I apply the concept of “informational autocracy” to Hungary to explain the way in which the Orbán government has been able t...

Cas Mudde, probably the most famous scholar on populism, wrote an article on the “populist zeitgeist” 15 years ago ( Mudde, 2004 ), in which he claimed that “populist discourse has become mainstream in the politics of western democra-cies” (p. 541). A decade and a half later, this prophetic vision seems more timely than ever. Furthermore, we can ar...

Criminalization of social groups can create new norms for intergroup relations. An example for this is the 2018 amendment to the Hungarian Fundamental Law, which openly criminalizes homeless people. In our research, we investigated whether criminalization of homelessness can become a source of justifying violence against homeless people in the Hung...

Authoritarian regimes such as Russia and China are skillfully puffing themselves up to appear more economically, politically, and militarily powerful than they actually are—in particular, by presenting an outsized image of their ability to influence the politics of other countries. The success of this “authoritarian inflation” is clearly visible in...

Research suggests that belief in conspiracy theories (CT) stems from basic psychological mechanisms and is linked to other belief systems (e.g. religious beliefs). While previous research has extensively examined individual and contextual variables associated with CT beliefs, it has not yet investigated the role of culture. In the current research,...

Research suggests that belief in conspiracy theories (CT) stems from basic psychological mechanisms and is linked to other belief systems (e.g. religious beliefs). While previous research has extensively examined individual and contextual variables associated with CT beliefs, it has not yet investigated the role of culture. In the current research,...

Right-wing populist parties have been particularly successful in East-Central Europe in the second decade of the 21st century. We explain this phenomenon using a demand—supply framework. We review studies about characteristics of East-Central European nationalism and intergroup tensions with minorities on the psychological demand side and the anti-...

Similar to Poland, Hungary also experienced a peaceful transition from communism to democracy and market economy. The Hungarian Round Table Talks were organized in 1989, following the successful Polish model. While the Round Table Talks were similarly crucial in Hungary and in Poland in paving the way for institutional and political changes, and co...

There are many research studies on the functions and background motives underlying belief in conspiracy theories (Douglas et al. 2017) and also the negative consequences of conspiracy theories (Douglas et al. 2015; see also Chapter 2.7 in this volume). However, we so far only have a limited knowledge of the most practical implications of conspiracy...

In this research we aimed to explore the importance of partisanship behind the belief in wish-fulfilling political fake news. We tested the role of political orientation, partisanship, and conspiracy mentality in the acceptance of pro- and anti-government pipedream fake news. Using a representative survey ( N = 1,000) and a student sample ( N = 382...

In this research we aimed to explore the importance of partisanship behind the belief in wish-fulfilling political fake news. We tested the role of political orientation, partisanship, and conspiracy mentality in the acceptance of pro-and anti-government pipedream fake news. Using a representative survey (N = 1,000) and a student sample (N = 382) i...

In this research we aimed to explore the importance of partisanship behind the belief in wish-fulfilling political fake news. We tested the role of political orientation, partisanship, and conspiracy mentality in the acceptance of pro- and anti-government pipedream fake news. Using a representative survey (N = 1000) and a student sample (N = 382) i...

A többségi társadalom szemében a hajléktalanok stigmatizált csoportot alkotnak, amely magában foglalja a csoport negatív észlelését és társas elutasítását is. Kutatásunkban arra a kérdésre keressük a választ, hogy a hajléktalanság kriminalizációját az emberek felhatalmazásként élhetik-e meg arra, hogy a hajléktalanokkal szemben erőszakosan lépjenek...

Az elmúlt évtizedek gazdasági, társadalmi és politikai változásai növelték a kisebbségi csoportokkal szembeni antipátiát Magyarországon, illetve a társas csoportokkal szembeni erőszakos incidensek gyakoriságát is. Kutatásunkban azt vizsgáltuk, hogy a fizikailag veszélyesnek tartott és a szimbolikusan fenyegető csoportokkal szembeni erőszak igazolha...

Economic and political trends of the last decades resulted in a general rise in anti-minority populism in Hungary. Anti-minority sentiments have been manifested in violence primarily against the Roma, but also against other target groups. The aim of the current study is to reveal the social psychological mechanisms of justifying intergroup violence...

While proliferation of fake news is an increasing problem in Western societies, its psychological background is ambiguous, especially regarding the connection between political orientation and fake news acceptance. We tested the connection between political orientation, partisanship, and general belief in conspiracy theories on the one hand, and th...

Recent economic and political trends resulted in a general distrust in institutions and politics, and a rise of populism in Hungary. The aim of the current study is to reveal the social psychological mechanisms of justifying intergroup violence depending on whether target groups represent a symbolic or a physical threat. Violence was predicted to b...

Europe has witnessed a polarization of intergroup attitudes and action tendencies in the context of the refugee crisis of 2015 and the rise of right-wing populism. Participation in both pro-minority collective action and right-wing nationalist movements has increased among members of ethnic majority groups. We analyzed these collective action inten...

The reelection of Fidesz leader Viktor Orbán’s government in Hungary in April 2018 has entrenched a hybrid regime within the European Union. This article discusses some of the most crucial factors that have led to Hungary’s democratic backsliding and supplied the institutional and cultural bases of Fidesz’s rule. The authors particularly focus on p...

A politikai álhírek gyors terjedése az online térben egyre növekvő probléma, amelynek komoly hatása van a demokratikus folyamatokra és intézményekre. Az álhírek elfogadásának pszichológiai háttere azonban a mai napig vita tárgyát képezi a kutatók között. Kutatásunkban megvizsgáltuk a politikai orientáció, politikai elfogultság, illetve a konspiráci...

The reelection of Fidesz leader Viktor Orbán’s government in Hungary in April 2018 has entrenched a hybrid regime within the European Union. This article discusses some of the most crucial factors that have led to Hungary’s democratic backsliding and supplied the institutional and cultural bases of Fidesz’s rule. The authors particularly focus on p...

The far-right has been widely studied in the last decades, but little attention has been paid to its local activities. Nonetheless, in countries without far-right national government records, like Hungary, this might be the only way to explore the aims and characteristics of the former parties. This study sets out to explore the activities and main...

Conspiracy theory (CT) beliefs can be harmful. How is it possible to reduce them effectively? Three reduction strategies were tested in an online experiment using general and well-known CT beliefs on a comprehensive randomly assigned Hungarian sample (N = 813): exposing rational counter CT arguments, ridiculing those who hold CT beliefs, and empath...

The myth of the ‘stolen transition,’ the conspiracy between the post-socialist elite and the global markets to betray the original goals of democratization, became so important in Hungary that it was able to form not only Jobbik’s ideology, but governmental politics as well over the following few years. In this analysis we try to explain how Fidesz...

In 2009, Political Capital was among the first to call attention to East European far-right parties’ orientation towards Russia. Subsequently, in an analysis generating widespread international attention, in April 2014 we indicated that with the assistance of far-right parties’ pro-Russian policies “the promotion of Russian interests couched in nat...