Conspiracy Theories in the US: Who Believes in Them?

References

Akkerman, A., C. Mudde, and A. Zaslove. 2014. “How Populist Are the People? Measuring Populist Attitudes in Voters.” Comparative Political Studies 47 (9): 1324–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414013512600.Search in Google Scholar

Aljazeera. 2021. The ‘Superspreaders’ behind COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/15/the-superspreaders-behind-covid-19-conspiracy-theories.Search in Google Scholar

Barron, D., K. Morgan, T. Towell, B. Altemeyer, and V. Swami. 2014. “Associations between Schizotypy and Belief in Conspiracist Ideation.” Personality and Individual Differences 70: 156–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.06.040.Search in Google Scholar

BBC News. 2021. Trump on Climate Change Report: I Don’t Believe it. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46351940.Search in Google Scholar

Beer, T. 2020. Majority of Republicans Believe the QAnon Conspiracy Theory Is Partly or Mostly True, Survey Finds. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/09/02/majority-of-republicans-believe-the-qanon-conspiracy-theory-is-partly-or-mostly-true-survey-finds/?sh=16ac4e635231 (accessed July 17, 2021).Search in Google Scholar

Brotherton, R. 2013. “Towards a Definition of “Conspiracy Theory”.” PsyPAG Quarterly 88 (3): 9–14. https://doi.org/10.53841/bpspag.2013.1.88.9.Search in Google Scholar

Brotherton, R., and C. C. French. 2014. “Belief in Conspiracy Theories and Susceptibility to the Conjunction Fallacy.” Applied Cognitive Psychology 28: 238–48. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.2995.Search in Google Scholar

Brotherton, R., and C. C. French. 2015. “Intention Seekers: Conspiracist Ideation and Biased Attributions of Intentionality.” PLoS One 10 (5): e0124125.10.1371/journal.pone.0124125Search in Google Scholar

Brotherton, R., C. C. French, and A. D. Pickering. 2013. “Measuring Belief in Conspiracy Theories: The Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale.” Frontiers in Psychology 4: 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00279.Search in Google Scholar

Bruder, M., H. Peter, N. Neave, N. Nouripanah, and I. Roland. 2013. “Measuring Individual Differences in Generic Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories across Cultures: Conspiracy Mentality Questionnaire.” Frontiers in Psychology 4: 1–15.10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00225Search in Google Scholar

Byler, D., and K. Woodsome. 2021. Opinion: False, Toxic Sept. 11 Conspiracy Theories are Still Widespread Today. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/10/false-toxic-sept-11-conspiracy-theories-are-still-widespread-today/.Search in Google Scholar

Cassese, E. C., C. E. Farhart, and J. M. Miller. 2020. “Gender Differences in COVID-19 Conspiracy Theory Beliefs.” Politics and Gender 16 (4): 1009–18. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1743923x20000409.Search in Google Scholar

Castanho Silva, B., F. Vegetti, and L. Littvay. 2017. “The Elite Is up to Something: Exploring the Relation between Populism and Belief in Conspiracy Theories.” Swiss Political Science Review 23 (4): 423–43. https://doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12270.Search in Google Scholar

Cichocka, A., M. Marchlewska, and A. G. de Zavala. 2016. “Does Self-Love or Self-Hate Predict Conspiracy Beliefs? Narcissism, Self-Esteem and the Endorsement of Conspiracy Theories.” Social Psychological and Personality Science 7: 157–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550615616170.Search in Google Scholar

Cheney, K. 2016. No, Clinton Didn’t Start the Birther Thing. This Guy Did. https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/birther-movement-founder-trump-clinton-228304.Search in Google Scholar

DiMaggio, A. R. 2022. “Conspiracy Theories and the Manufacture of Dissent: QAnon, the ‘Big Lie’, Covid-19, and the Rise of Rightwing Propaganda.” Critical Sociology 48 (6): 1025–48. https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205211073669.Search in Google Scholar

Douglas, K. M., and R. M. Sutton. 2011. “Does it Take One to Know One? Endorsement of Conspiracy Theories Is Influenced by Personal Willingness to Conspire.” British Journal of Social Psychology 50: 544–52. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8309.2010.02018.x.Search in Google Scholar

Douglas, K. M., and R. M. Sutton. 2015. “Climate Change: Why the Conspiracy Theories Are Dangerous.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 71 (2): 98–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/0096340215571908.Search in Google Scholar

Douglas, K. M., J. E. Uscinski, R. M. Sutton, A. Cichocka, T. Nefes, S. A. Chee, and F. Deravi. 2019. “Understanding Conspiracy Theories.” Political Psychology 40 (1): 3–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12568.Search in Google Scholar

Dyrendal, A., L. E. O. Kennair, and M. Bendixen. 2021. “Predictors of Belief in Conspiracy Theory: The Role of Individual Differences in Schizotypal Traits, Paranormal Beliefs, Social Dominance Orientation, Right Wing Authoritarianism and Conspiracy Mentality.” Personality and Individual Differences 173: 110645. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.110645.Search in Google Scholar

Eberl, J. M., R. A. Huber, and E. Greussing. 2021. “From Populism to the “Plandemic”: Why Populists Believe in COVID-19 Conspiracies.” Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties 31: 272–84.10.1080/17457289.2021.1924730Search in Google Scholar

Enders, A., C. Farhart, J. Miller, U. Joseph, K. Saunders, and H. Drochon. 2022. “Are Republicans and Conservatives More Likely to Believe Conspiracy Theories?” Political Behavior: 1–24 (online first). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-022-09812-3.Search in Google Scholar

Enders, A., C. Klofstad, J. Stoler, and J. E. Uscinski. 2023. “How Anti-social Personality Traits and Anti-establishment Views Promote Beliefs in Election Fraud, QAnon, and COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation.” American Politics Research 51 (2): 247–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673x221139434.Search in Google Scholar

Erisen, C., M. Guidi, S. Martini, S. Toprakkiran, P. Isernia, and L. Littvay. 2021. “Psychological Correlates of Populist Attitudes.” Political Psychology 42: 149–71, https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12768.Search in Google Scholar

Fea, J. 2020. An Illuminati Conspiracy Theory Captured American Imaginations in the Nation’s Earliest Days—And Offers a Lesson for Now. https://time.com/5892376/early-american-conspiracy-theory/.Search in Google Scholar

Fennelly, K., and C. Federico. 2008. “Rural Residence as a Determinant of Attitudes toward US Immigration Policy.” International Migration 46 (1): 151–90. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.2008.00440.x.Search in Google Scholar

Hill, S. J., and M. E. Roberts. 2021. “Acquiescence Bias Inflates Estimates of Conspiratorial Beliefs and Political Misperceptions.” Political Analysis: 1–16. (online first). https://doi.org/10.1017/pan.2022.28.Search in Google Scholar

Hollander, B. A. 2018. “Partisanship, Individual Differences, and News Media Exposure as Predictors of Conspiracy Beliefs.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 95 (3): 691–713.10.1177/1077699017728919Search in Google Scholar

Islam, Md. S., A.-H. M. Kamal, A. Kabir, D. L. Southern, M. S. H. Khan, S. M. Murshid Hasan, T. Sarkar, S. Sharmin, S. Das, T. Roy, M. G. D. Harun, A. A. Chughtai, N. Homaira, and H. Seale. 2021. “COVID-19 Vaccine Rumors and Conspiracy Theories: The Need for Cognitive Inoculation against Misinformation to Improve Vaccine Adherence.” PLoS One 16 (5): e0251605, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251605.Search in Google Scholar

Jolley, D., K. M. Douglas, Y. Skipper, E. Thomas, and D. Cookson. 2021. “Measuring Adolescents’ Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories: Development and Validation of the Adolescent Conspiracy Beliefs Questionnaire (ACBQ).” British Journal of Developmental Psychology 39 (3): 499–520.10.1111/bjdp.12368Search in Google Scholar

Klofstad, C. A., J. E. Uscinski, J. M. Connolly, and J. P. West. 2019. “What Drives People to Believe in Zika Conspiracy Theories?” Palgrave Communications 5 (1): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0243-8.Search in Google Scholar

Lantian, A., D. Muller, C. Nurra, and K. M. Douglas. 2017. “‘I Know Things They Don’t Know!’: The Role of Need for Uniqueness in Belief in Conspiracy Theories.” Social Psychology 48 (3): 160–73. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000306.Search in Google Scholar

Lockwood, E. 2021. “The Antisemitic Backlash to Financial Power: Conspiracy Theory as a Response to Financial Complexity and Crisis.” New Political Economy 26 (2): 261–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2020.1841141.Search in Google Scholar

Maxwell, R. 2019. “Cosmopolitan Immigration Attitudes in Large European Cities: Contextual or Compositional Effects?” American Political Science Review 113 (2): 456–74. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003055418000898.Search in Google Scholar

McCammon, S. 2021. How Religion, Education, Race and Media Consumption Shape Conspiracy Theory Beliefs. https://www.npr.org/2021/05/27/1000865185/how-religion-education-race-and-media-consumption-shape-conspiracy-theory-belief.Search in Google Scholar

Miller, J. M. 2020. “Psychological, Political, and Situational Factors Combine to Boost COVID-19 Conspiracy Theory Beliefs.” Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique 53 (2): 327–34. https://doi.org/10.1017/s000842392000058x.Search in Google Scholar

Oliver, J. E., and T. J. Wood. 2014. “Conspiracy Theories and the Paranoid Style(s) of Mass Opinion.” American Journal of Political Science 58 (4): 952–66. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12084.Search in Google Scholar

Pasek, J., T. H. Stark, J. A. Krosnick, and T. Tompson. 2015. “What Motivates a Conspiracy Theory? Birther Beliefs, Partisanship, Liberal-Conservative Ideology, and Anti-black Attitudes.” Electoral Studies 40: 482–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2014.09.009.Search in Google Scholar

Reuters. 2021. Fact Check: COVID 19 Is Not a Hoax to Eliminate Trump. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-covid-hoax-eliminate-trump-idUSKBN27S31E.Search in Google Scholar

Romer, D., and K. H. Jamieson. 2020. “Conspiracy Theories as Barriers to Controlling the Spread of COVID-19 in the U.S.” Social Science and Medicine 1982: 263.10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113356Search in Google Scholar

Sarathchandra, D., and K. Haltinner. 2021. “How Believing Climate Change Is a “Hoax” Shapes Climate Skepticism in the United States.” Environmental Sociology 7 (3): 225–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/23251042.2020.1855884.Search in Google Scholar

Su, Y., Ka. L. DanielleLee, X. Xiao, W. Li, and W. Shu. 2021. “Who Endorses Conspiracy Theories? A Moderated Mediation Model of Chinese and International Social Media Use, Media Skepticism, Need for Cognition, and COVID-19 Conspiracy Theory Endorsement in China.” Computers in Human Behavior 120: 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106760.Search in Google Scholar

Swami, V., T. Chamorro-Premuzic, and A. Furnham. 2010. “Unanswered Questions: A Preliminary Investigation of Personality and Individual Difference Predictors of 9/11 Conspiracist Beliefs.” Applied Cognitive Psychology 24: 749–61. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1583.Search in Google Scholar

Swami, V., M. Voracek, S. Stieger, U. S. Tran, and A. Furnham. 2014. “Analytic Thinking Reduces Belief in Conspiracy Theories.” Cognition 133: 572–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2014.08.006.Search in Google Scholar

Swami, V., A. Furnham, N. Smyth, L. Weis, A. Lay, and A. Clow. 2016. “Putting the Stress on Conspiracy Theories: Examining Associations between Psychological Stress, Anxiety, and Belief in Conspiracy Theories.” Personality and Individual Differences 99: 72–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.04.084.Search in Google Scholar

Todd, C., M. Murray, and C. Dunn. 2021. Study Finds Nearly one-in-five Americans Believe QAnon Conspiracy Theories. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/study-finds-nearly-one-five-americans-believe-qanon-conspiracy-theories-n1268722 (accessed July 17, 2021).Search in Google Scholar

Tollefson, J. 2021. “How Trump Turned Conspiracy Theory Research Upside Down.” Nature 590: 192–3. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00257-y.Search in Google Scholar

Tucker, P. D., M. Torres, B. Sinclair, and S. S. Smith. 2019. “Pathways to Trump: Republican Voters in 2016.” Electoral Studies 61: 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2019.03.011.Search in Google Scholar

Uscinski, J. E., C. Klofstad, and M. D. Atkinson. 2016. “What Drives Conspiratorial Beliefs? the Role of Informational Cues and Predispositions.” Political Research Quarterly 69 (1): 57–71. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912915621621.Search in Google Scholar

Uscinski, J. E., A. M. Enders, C. Klofstad, M. Seelig, J. Funchion, C. Caleb Everett, S. Wuchty, K. Premaratne, and M. Murthi. 2020. “Why Do People Believe COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories? Harvard Kennedy.” School Misinformation Review 1 (3). https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-015.Search in Google Scholar

Van der Linden, S.C. P., F. Azevedo, J. T. Jost, and J. T. Jost. 2021. “The Paranoid Style in American Politics Revisited: An Ideological Asymmetry in Conspiratorial Thinking.” Political Psychology 42 (1): 23–51. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12681.Search in Google Scholar

Van Prooijen, J.-W. 2015. Voters on the Extreme Left and Right are Far More Likely to Believe in Conspiracy Theories. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2015/03/02/voters-on-the-extreme-left-and-right-are-far-more-likely-to-believe-in-conspiracy-theories/.Search in Google Scholar

Van Prooijen, J.-W. 2017. “Why Education Predicts Decreased Belief in Conspiracy Theories.” Applied Cognitive Psychology 31 (1): 50–8. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3301.Search in Google Scholar

Van Prooijen, J.-W., and K. M. Douglas. 2017. “Conspiracy Theories as Part of History: The Role of Societal Crisis Situations.” Memory Studies 10 (3): 323–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698017701615.Search in Google Scholar

Weigmann, K. 2018. “The Genesis of a Conspiracy Theory: Why Do People Believe in Scientific Conspiracy Theories and How Do They Spread?” EMBO Reports 19 (4): 1–4. https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.201845935.Search in Google Scholar

Wendling, M. 2021. QAnon: What Is it and where Did it Come from? https://www.bbc.com/news/53498434.Search in Google Scholar

Wood, M. J., K. M. Douglas, and R. M. Sutton. 2012. “Dead and Alive: Beliefs in Contradictory Conspiracy Theories.” Social Psychological and Personality Science 3 (6): 767–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550611434786.Search in Google Scholar