From curiosity to conspiracy: How epistemic motivation shapes competing ways of knowing

Through three studies (Ntot = 2338), the present research examines the relationship between epistemic psychological needs, conspiratorial beliefs and trust in science, specifically investigating how these factors influence preferences for online content marked by conspiratorial or scientific rhetoric. Study 1 reveals that conspiratorial beliefs are positively associated with insecure epistemic needs, and Study 2 replicates and deepens these findings by introducing behavioural measures of engagement with Google-like headlines presenting conspiratorial or scientific claims. Finally, Study 3 further confirms the link between epistemic needs and conspiracy beliefs, using curiosity as a predictor of conspiratorial beliefs, trust in science and engagement with online content while also considering hostile attribution bias and cognitive reflection as influential variables. The results suggest that different dimensions of epistemic psychological needs can lead to the adoption of divergent belief systems, offering new perspectives on understanding the dynamics between conspiratorial beliefs and trust in science.