Resumen de Pseudoscience endorsement and gullibility

Anadaniela Del Carpio, Ainoa Barreiro, Itxaso Barberia, Javier Rodríguez Ferreiro

• The prevalence of pseudoscientific beliefs has increased in recent years, despite their potential harmful consequences. Previous research has suggested an association between the endorsement of pseudoscience and gullibility, i.e., the tendency to accept false premises despite indications of untrustworthiness. We studied the possible association between these two constructs by means of a scale measuring pseudoscientific beliefs, a scam email assessment task, and a gullibility self-report. We observed positive correlations between pseudoscience endorsement and ‘persuadability’, a subscale of the gullibility questionnaire, as well as, crucially, with ratings given to low-, but not high-, authenticity scam emails. Our results show an association between pseudoscience endorsement and gullibility, which would only be evident when the situations are more obviously deceptive. By contributing to the understanding of variability with regards to pseudoscience endorsement, our study might serve as a basis for future interventions aimed to promote critical thinking and informed decision-making.