by Rigorous Intuition » Thu Apr 20, 2006 10:17 pm
<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Just saw this. I don't have a subscription so I can't access the full report. Interesting to note the intent to employ "elites" to re-educate "masses" on the supposed untenability of conspiracy theories, but that elected officials were found to be just as likely to hold them true as average churchgoers.<br><br>Also interesting to note the irony, at least, that the people surveyed were residents of Louisiana, and the report was published last September, during Katrina.<br><br></em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br> <br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>"Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories Among African Americans: A Comparison of Elites and Masses"</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong><br>Objective</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->. Several studies have reported a widespread belief in conspiracy theories among African Americans. Such theories have been shown to have possible deleterious effects, especially when they deal with HIV/AIDS. It has been conjectured that African-American elites could play a role in dispelling these beliefs, unless, of course, they believe in these theories themselves. To examine this possibility the present study examines the conspiratorial beliefs of African-American locally elected officials in Louisiana and compares them with a previous study of African-American churchgoers in the same state.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Methods</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->. A systematic sample of 400 African-American locally elected officials was drawn from a list of all African-American elected officials in the state and 170 officials completed and returned the mail survey. Confirmatory factor analysis and OLS regression were used to analyze the attitude structure and determinants of beliefs, respectively.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Results</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->. The locally elected officials believe in these theories as much as the churchgoers and the structures of their beliefs are also very similar. In some very important ways, however, the predictors of these beliefs differ between the two samples.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Conclusions</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->. Our findings suggest that beliefs in conspiracy theories are widespread and that African-American locally elected officials will not seek to dispel these beliefs.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.0038-4941.2005.00319.x;jsessionid=aLlREFgSwsLh6TO_5Q?cookieSet=1&journalCode=ssqu">link</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=rigorousintuition>Rigorous Intuition</A> at: 4/20/06 8:19 pm<br></i>
