Does Personality Truly Drive Conspiracy Thinking? An Exploratory Analysis of Dark Triad Traits and Perceived Social Support

Background/Objectives: The present study aimed to examine the relationship between Dark Triad personality traits (narcissism, psychopathy, and machiavellianism) and conspiratorial thinking. Additionally, it sought to investigate whether perceived social support acts as a mediator in this relationship, potentially serving as a protective factor against the adoption of conspiracy beliefs. Methods: The sample consisted of 620 participants (N = 620), including 523 women and 97 men, aged 18 to 69 (M = 35.74; SD = 11.36). Data were collected through an online survey using the Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale (GCBS), the Dirty Dozen Scale, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Results: Statistical analyses using Pearson’s correlation coefficient did not indicate a statistically significant co-occurrence between conspiratorial thinking and Dark Triad personality traits. Furthermore, the mediation models did not show significant values for mediating effects, suggesting that perceived social support—including its dimensions of support from a significant person, family, and friends—did not alter the relationship between personality traits and conspiracy thinking in this sample. Conclusions: The findings contradict several earlier reports, contributing to the ongoing debate regarding the dispositional roots of conspiracy beliefs. The results suggest that conspiratorial ideation may not be rooted in stable aversive personality traits, but instead may be driven by specific neurocognitive processes such as uncertainty processing and threat reactivity, aligning with current brain-based models of belief evaluation. Future research should integrate neuroscientific perspectives with social psychology to develop more comprehensive models of conspiratorial ideation.