Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.)

School

Psychology

Advisor

Susana Verdinelli

Abstract

Bullshit receptivity is a relatively new concept in the field of psychology and refers to people’s susceptibility to providing meaning to meaningless claims. Ascribing meaning to meaningless claims is a way to make inaccurate judgments regarding the behaviors, events, and interactions around each person. The research on bullshit receptivity is scant. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional survey design study was to investigate whether critical thinking, individualism–collectivism, political ideology, religiosity, right-wing authoritarianism, social–dominance orientation, and need for closure predict bullshit receptivity. These variables were selected to represent a greater conglomeration of daily internal and external factors that affect a person’s processing of data both to oneself and toward others. Kruglanski’s lay epistemic theory was used as the backdrop for this study. Participants of this study were 167 English-speaking adults who completed an online survey and were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk. A stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine if the predictor variables or a subset of these variables predicted the criterion variable of bullshit receptivity. Results of this study indicated that critical thinking and vertical collectivism were significant predictors of bullshit receptivity. The results of this study have the potential implications for positive social change by raising awareness about how critical factors relate to bullshit receptivity. The potential to understand what makes individuals more receptive or resistant toward bullshit claims can help determine what factors contribute to falling for bullshit. Maintaining dialogue or engaging in open debates is difficult when people are not critical about evaluating statements.

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