Sinan Alper — Professor of Social Psychology

Publications

SSCI Articles

Books

Book Chapters

2025
Conspiracy theories as instruments of power: The case of conspiracy beliefs in the wake of the 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye
Political Psychology
SSCI
2025
Reflection predicts and leads to decreased conspiracy belief
Cognition
SSCI
2025
Fictitious conspiracy, paranormal, and pseudoscience beliefs are closely related to their regular counterparts
Current Psychology
SSCI
2024
Stronger conspiracy beliefs are associated with a stronger tendency to act dishonestly and an overestimation of others' dishonesty
Social Psychological and Personality Science
SSCI
2024
The relevance of cognitive processes to the formation and consequences of conspiracy theory appraisals
Psychological Inquiry
SSCI
2024
How do beliefs in free will and determinism correlate with beliefs in conspiracy, paranormal, and pseudoscience beliefs?
Personality and Individual Differences
SSCI
2024
Komplo Teorilerine Neden İnanırız? Komplo İnançlarının Psikolojisi Üzerine
Doğan Yayıncılık (Book)
Book
2023
Perceived expert and laypeople consensus predict belief in local conspiracy theories in a non-WEIRD culture
Judgment and Decision Making
SSCI
2023
The positive association of education with the trust in science and scientists is weaker in highly corrupt countries
Public Understanding of Science
SSCI
2023
What is wrong with conspiracy beliefs?
Routledge Open Research
SSCI
2023
Multidimensional intuitive–analytic thinking style and its relation to moral concerns, epistemically suspect beliefs, and ideology
Judgment and Decision Making
SSCI
2023
Effective health communication depends on the interaction of message source and content
Psychology & Health
SSCI
2022
There are higher levels of conspiracy beliefs in more corrupt countries
European Journal of Social Psychology
SSCI
2022
Suspecting foul play when it is objectively there: The association of political orientation with general and partisan conspiracy beliefs as a function of corruption levels
Social Psychological and Personality Science
SSCI
2022
Reflective thinking predicts lower conspiracy beliefs: A meta-analysis
Judgment and Decision Making
SSCI
2022
Situational factors shape moral judgements in the trolley dilemma in Eastern, Southern and Western countries in a culturally diverse sample
Nature Human Behaviour
SSCI
2022
Antecedents and consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs: A systematic review
Social Science & Medicine
SSCI
2021
Conspiracy beliefs and generosity across 52 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic
Preprint (OSF)
Preprint
2021
Does the association between illness-related and religious searches on the internet depend on the level of religiosity?
Social Psychological and Personality Science
SSCI
2021
Psychological correlates of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and preventive measures: Evidence from Turkey
Current Psychology
SSCI
2021
Inferring political and religious attitudes from composite faces perceived to be related to the dark triad personality traits
Personality and Individual Differences
SSCI
2021
A tale of two hashtags: An examination of moral content of pro- and anti-government tweets in Turkey
European Journal of Social Psychology
SSCI
2021
The role of intentionality in perceiving terrorism as a more important problem than traffic accidents
Current Psychology
SSCI
2021
How do cognitive styles influence political attitudes? A joint consideration of Dual-Process Model and Construal Level Theory
Springer, Cham (Book Chapter)
Chapter
2021
Çözüm önerisinin itici görülüp görülmemesi Kürt sorununu kabul etmeyi etkiliyor mu?
Kalem Eğitim ve İnsan Bilimleri Dergisi (TR Dizin)
TR Dizin
2020
Explaining the complex effect of construal level on moral and political attitudes
Current Directions in Psychological Science
SSCI
2020
Does abstract mindset increase the internal consistency of moral attitudes and strengthen individualizing foundations?
Social Psychological and Personality Science
SSCI
2020
All the Dark Triad and some of the Big Five traits are visible in the face
Personality and Individual Differences
SSCI
2020
Do changes in threat salience predict the moral content of sermons? The case of Friday Khutbas in Turkey
European Journal of Social Psychology
SSCI
2020
Sağcılığın ve Solculuğun Psikolojisi: Farklı Dünyaların İnsanları
Nobel Akademik Yayıncılık (Book)
Book
2019
Does abstract mindset decrease or increase deception?
Social Psychology
SSCI
2019
How is the Big Five related to moral and political convictions: The moderating role of the WEIRDness of the culture
Personality and Individual Differences
SSCI
2019
The five-factor model of the moral foundations theory is stable across WEIRD and non-WEIRD cultures
Personality and Individual Differences
SSCI
2019
The evil eye effect: Vertical pupils are perceived as more threatening
Cognition and Emotion
SSCI
2019
Control deprivation decreases, not increases, belief in a controlling god for people with independent self-construal
Current Psychology
SSCI
2019
The link between intuitive thinking and social conservatism is stronger in WEIRD societies
Judgment and Decision Making
SSCI
2019
Sosyal karşılaştırmaların ulusal nostalji üzerindeki etkisi
Türk Psikoloji Yazıları (TR Dizin)
TR Dizin
2019
Wittgenstein'ın psikoloji bilimine dair görüşlerine eleştirel bir bakış
Current Research in Social Sciences (TR Dizin)
TR Dizin
2019
Personal control
Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences, Springer (Book Chapter)
Chapter
2019
Personal agency
Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences, Springer (Book Chapter)
Chapter
2019
Power distance
Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences, Springer (Book Chapter)
Chapter
2018
An abstract mind is a principled one: Abstract mindset increases consistency in responses to political attitude scales
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
SSCI
2018
Cross-cultural consistency and relativity in the enjoyment of thinking versus doing
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
SSCI
2018
Many Labs 2: Investigating variation in replicability across samples and settings
Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science
SSCI
2018
To which world regions does the valence-dominance model of social perception apply?
Nature Human Behavior
SSCI
2018
Zamir kullanımının erkek ve kadınlarda bireycilik ve toplulukçuluğa etkisi
Nesne (TR Dizin)
TR Dizin
2017
Özgür irade ve belirlenimcilik ölçeğinin Türkçeye uyarlaması ve psikometrik özellikleri
Türk Psikoloji Yazıları (TR Dizin)
TR Dizin
2015
Do internals speed less and externals speed more to cope with the death anxiety?
Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behavior
SSCI

Grants & Awards

Grants

Principal Investigator

TÜBİTAK 1002 — Conspiracy Beliefs and Behavioral Trust

Project no: 424K155 · 2025 – Present

Researcher

TÜBİTAK 1071 — The Rise of Conspiracy Theories in Social Media

Project no: 124N006 · 2024 – Present

Consultant

TÜBİTAK — Rethinking Online Engagement Strategies for Advocacy of a Controversial Issue: A Comparative Analysis of Oppositional Networks

Project no: 224K657 · 2024 – Present

Principal Investigator

Yaşar University BAP — Conspiracy Beliefs and Cooperation

Project no: BAP 138 · 2023 – 2024

Principal Investigator

TÜBİTAK 1001 — The Temporal Changes in Epistemically Suspect (Conspiracy, Paranormal and Pseudoscience) Beliefs: Longitudinal Analysis of the Predictors and the Moderators

Project no: 221K046 · 2022 – 2025

Principal Investigator

TÜBİTAK 3501 — Reducing Epistemically Suspect Beliefs through Scientific Reasoning

Project no: 221K535 · 2022 – 2025

Researcher

CHIST-ERA — Malicious Actors Profiling and Detection in Online Social Networks through Artificial Intelligence

Project no: 222N310 · 2022 – Present

Researcher

TÜBİTAK 1001 — How to Increase Social Cooperation against the Threat of Earthquakes?

Project no: 121K638 · 2021 – Present

Researcher

TÜBİTAK 3501 — How to Promote Cooperation under Resource Scarcity? The Moderating Role of Intuitive/Analytical Thinking

Project no: 121K107 · 2021 – Present

Principal Investigator

Yaşar University BAP — The Association between Face Perception and the Perceived Political and Religious Attitudes

Project no: BAP 080 · 02.2020 – 08.2020

Principal Investigator

Yaşar University BAP — The Effect of Gender Roles on Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation and Subjective Preferences

Project no: BAP 087 · 01.2020 – 07.2020

Awards

2024
The Science Academy — Young Scientist Award (BAGEP)
Awarded by Bilim Akademisi for outstanding research contributions
2021
Sakıp Sabancı International Research Award — Best Essay
“Believing COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories: Not a Bug but a Feature of Human Nature”
2019
COS Preregistration Challenge Prize
Won two prizes ($1,000 each) from the Center for Open Science
2022
Yaşar University — Achievement in Education Award
2020–22
Yaşar University — Successful Researcher Award
Three consecutive years (2020, 2021, 2022)

ProCon Lab

Est. 2026 · Yaşar University

ProCon Lab investigates how people interpret social reality and how these interpretations shape their behavior. Our research integrates two core domains: (A) conspiracy beliefs, misinformation, and corruption perceptions; and (B) prosocial behavior, particularly selective helping and ingroup bias. Across these two domains, we explore how individual differences and sociocultural contexts jointly shape social judgments, belief formation, and behavioral decisions. In short, ProCon Lab examines the “pro” (constructive) and “con” (destructive) sides of human behavior as a unified whole.

Research Area A

Why Do People Believe in Non-Evidence-Based Theories?

This research area examines the antecedents and consequences of conspiracy beliefs and misinformation. By considering both environmental factors (e.g., corruption) and individual differences (e.g., intuitive thinking, distrust), we investigate who believes in conspiracy theories and who is more susceptible to misinformation.

Research Area B

How Do We Decide Whom to Help?

This research area examines when, why, and whom people choose to help. By considering both environmental factors (e.g., the recipient’s group membership, perceived need) and individual differences (e.g., personality traits), we investigate the factors that influence selectivity in prosocial behavior.

Lab Members

Lab Director

Prof. Dr. Sinan Alper

X / Twitter ORCID

Lab Director

Büşra Elif Yelbuz

Her research examines how people form social judgments and make decisions in moral contexts, with a focus on conspiracy beliefs, prosocial behavior, and selectivity in helping.

X / Twitter LinkedIn

Student Members

Zeliha Ece Özsoy Selen Aksu Selin Başbayram Esma Nur Teker Emine Erkök Tuğçe Beril Coşgun Ali Kaan Kaygusuz

Sinan Alper,Professor

Research Interests

Conspiracy & Epistemically Suspect Beliefs

Political Psychology

Moral Psychology

Cognitive Processes & Social Attitudes

Publications

Conspiracy theories as instruments of power: The case of conspiracy beliefs in the wake of the 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye

Reflection predicts and leads to decreased conspiracy belief

Fictitious conspiracy, paranormal, and pseudoscience beliefs are closely related to their regular counterparts

Stronger conspiracy beliefs are associated with a stronger tendency to act dishonestly and an overestimation of others' dishonesty

The relevance of cognitive processes to the formation and consequences of conspiracy theory appraisals

How do beliefs in free will and determinism correlate with beliefs in conspiracy, paranormal, and pseudoscience beliefs?

Komplo Teorilerine Neden İnanırız? Komplo İnançlarının Psikolojisi Üzerine

Perceived expert and laypeople consensus predict belief in local conspiracy theories in a non-WEIRD culture

The positive association of education with the trust in science and scientists is weaker in highly corrupt countries

What is wrong with conspiracy beliefs?

Multidimensional intuitive–analytic thinking style and its relation to moral concerns, epistemically suspect beliefs, and ideology

Effective health communication depends on the interaction of message source and content

There are higher levels of conspiracy beliefs in more corrupt countries

Suspecting foul play when it is objectively there: The association of political orientation with general and partisan conspiracy beliefs as a function of corruption levels

Reflective thinking predicts lower conspiracy beliefs: A meta-analysis

Situational factors shape moral judgements in the trolley dilemma in Eastern, Southern and Western countries in a culturally diverse sample

Antecedents and consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs: A systematic review

Conspiracy beliefs and generosity across 52 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

Does the association between illness-related and religious searches on the internet depend on the level of religiosity?

Psychological correlates of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and preventive measures: Evidence from Turkey

Inferring political and religious attitudes from composite faces perceived to be related to the dark triad personality traits

A tale of two hashtags: An examination of moral content of pro- and anti-government tweets in Turkey

The role of intentionality in perceiving terrorism as a more important problem than traffic accidents

How do cognitive styles influence political attitudes? A joint consideration of Dual-Process Model and Construal Level Theory

Çözüm önerisinin itici görülüp görülmemesi Kürt sorununu kabul etmeyi etkiliyor mu?

Explaining the complex effect of construal level on moral and political attitudes

Does abstract mindset increase the internal consistency of moral attitudes and strengthen individualizing foundations?

All the Dark Triad and some of the Big Five traits are visible in the face

Do changes in threat salience predict the moral content of sermons? The case of Friday Khutbas in Turkey

Sağcılığın ve Solculuğun Psikolojisi: Farklı Dünyaların İnsanları

Does abstract mindset decrease or increase deception?

How is the Big Five related to moral and political convictions: The moderating role of the WEIRDness of the culture

The five-factor model of the moral foundations theory is stable across WEIRD and non-WEIRD cultures

The evil eye effect: Vertical pupils are perceived as more threatening

Control deprivation decreases, not increases, belief in a controlling god for people with independent self-construal

The link between intuitive thinking and social conservatism is stronger in WEIRD societies

Sosyal karşılaştırmaların ulusal nostalji üzerindeki etkisi

Wittgenstein'ın psikoloji bilimine dair görüşlerine eleştirel bir bakış

Personal control

Personal agency

Power distance

An abstract mind is a principled one: Abstract mindset increases consistency in responses to political attitude scales

Cross-cultural consistency and relativity in the enjoyment of thinking versus doing

Many Labs 2: Investigating variation in replicability across samples and settings

To which world regions does the valence-dominance model of social perception apply?

Zamir kullanımının erkek ve kadınlarda bireycilik ve toplulukçuluğa etkisi

Özgür irade ve belirlenimcilik ölçeğinin Türkçeye uyarlaması ve psikometrik özellikleri

Do internals speed less and externals speed more to cope with the death anxiety?

Grants & Awards

Grants

TÜBİTAK 1002 — Conspiracy Beliefs and Behavioral Trust

TÜBİTAK 1071 — The Rise of Conspiracy Theories in Social Media

TÜBİTAK — Rethinking Online Engagement Strategies for Advocacy of a Controversial Issue: A Comparative Analysis of Oppositional Networks

Yaşar University BAP — Conspiracy Beliefs and Cooperation

TÜBİTAK 1001 — The Temporal Changes in Epistemically Suspect (Conspiracy, Paranormal and Pseudoscience) Beliefs: Longitudinal Analysis of the Predictors and the Moderators

TÜBİTAK 3501 — Reducing Epistemically Suspect Beliefs through Scientific Reasoning

CHIST-ERA — Malicious Actors Profiling and Detection in Online Social Networks through Artificial Intelligence

TÜBİTAK 1001 — How to Increase Social Cooperation against the Threat of Earthquakes?

TÜBİTAK 3501 — How to Promote Cooperation under Resource Scarcity? The Moderating Role of Intuitive/Analytical Thinking

Yaşar University BAP — The Association between Face Perception and the Perceived Political and Religious Attitudes

Yaşar University BAP — The Effect of Gender Roles on Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation and Subjective Preferences

Awards

The Science Academy — Young Scientist Award (BAGEP)

Sakıp Sabancı International Research Award — Best Essay

COS Preregistration Challenge Prize

Yaşar University — Achievement in Education Award

Yaşar University — Successful Researcher Award

ProCon Lab

Why Do People Believe in Non-Evidence-Based Theories?

How Do We Decide Whom to Help?

Lab Members

Prof. Dr. Sinan Alper

Büşra Elif Yelbuz

Sinan Alper,
Professor