RELIGIOSITY AND CONSPIRACY BELIEFS: PATTERNS OF RELATIONSHIPS

Despite cognitive similarities, the relationship between religiosity and conspiracy beliefs remains ambiguous due to their heterogeneity and variation in cultural contexts. The Polish study addresses these discrepancies by using complementary measures, including the strength of faith, religious beliefs, experiences, and practices. Conspiracy theory beliefs were assessed using a generic measure and four specific theories on vaccination, the Ukrainian war, COVID-19, and 5G networks. An online survey was conducted, collecting 898 responses from conspiracy theory believers to explore the relationship. The results show that for generic conspiracist beliefs religious experience and religious beliefs emerge as positive determinants, while religious practices emerge as a negative determinant.For specific conspiracy theories on vaccination, the Ukrainian war, and 5G technology, the positive correlation occurs with the strength of faith and religious experience. None of the religious factors are statistically significant for COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs. The research findings highlight the need for more in-depth and comparative studies.