Editing Conspiracy theory (section)

====General public====
People who feel [[Empowerment|empowered]] are more resistant to conspiracy theories. Methods to promote empowerment include encouraging people to use [[analytical thinking]], [[Priming (psychology)|priming]] people to think of situations where they are in control, and ensuring that decisions by society and government are seen to follow procedural fairness (the use of fair decision-making procedures).<ref name="LewandowskyCook2020">{{cite book|last1=Lewandowsky|first1=S.|last2=Cook|first2=J.|title=The Conspiracy Theory Handbook|publisher=John Cook, Center for Climate Change Communication, George Mason University|year=2020|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BCGxzQEACAAJ|access-date=17 November 2021}}</ref>

Methods of refutation which have shown effectiveness in various circumstances include: providing facts that demonstrate the conspiracy theory is false, attempting to discredit the source, explaining how the logic is invalid or misleading, and providing links to fact-checking websites.<ref name="LewandowskyCook2020"/> It can also be effective to use these strategies in advance, informing people that they could encounter misleading information in the future, and why the information should be rejected (also called inoculation or prebunking).<ref name="LewandowskyCook2020"/><ref name="ConnollyUscinski2019"/><ref name="LazicZezelj2021"/> While it has been suggested that discussing conspiracy theories can raise their profile and make them seem more legitimate to the public, the discussion can put people on guard instead as long as it is sufficiently persuasive.<ref name="Andrade2020"/>

Other approaches to reduce the appeal of conspiracy theories in general among the public may be based in the emotional and social nature of conspiratorial beliefs. For example, interventions that promote [[analytical thinking]] in the general public are likely to be effective. Another approach is to intervene in ways that decrease [[negative emotion]]s, and specifically to improve feelings of personal hope and empowerment.<ref name="van ProoijenDouglas2018">{{cite journal|last1=van Prooijen|first1=Jan-Willem|last2=Douglas|first2=Karen M.|title=Belief in conspiracy theories: Basic principles of an emerging research domain|journal=European Journal of Social Psychology|volume=48|issue=7|year=2018|pages=897–908|doi=10.1002/ejsp.2530|pmid=30555188|pmc=6282974}}</ref>