Do conspiracy beliefs form a belief system? Examining the structure and organization of conspiracy beliefs

Abstract

Despite regular reference to conspiracy theories as a “belief system,” few studies have attempted to explore the structure and organization of conspiracy beliefs beyond an examination of correlations between those beliefs. Employing unique data from two national surveys that includes respondent beliefs in 27 conspiracy theories, we decipher the substantive dimensions along which conspiracy beliefs are organized, as well as subgroupings within those dimensions. We find that variation in these conspiracy beliefs can be accounted for with two dimensions: the first regards partisan and ideological identities, while the other is composed of anti-social orientations, such as narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and acceptance of political violence. Importantly, these two dimensions are uncorrelated. We also find that conspiracy beliefs group together by substantive content, such as those regarding partisan actors or science/medicine. Our findings also demonstrate that inferences about the correlates of conspiracy beliefs are highly contingent on the specific conspiracy theories employed by researchers. We provide suggestions for future research in this vein.

Affected more than infected: The relationship between national narcissism and Zika conspiracy beliefs is mediated by exclusive victimhood about the Zika outbreak

“…This is not surprising given the high correlation between these two factors (r = 0.89). We discuss this finding in the Discussion section with regard to the hypothesis of conspiracy beliefs organized in a belief system (Enders et al, 2021).…”

Are Republicans and Conservatives More Likely to Believe Conspiracy Theories?

“…That said, not all investigations produce evidence for this form of partisan or ideological asymmetry and some studies even suggest that the left is more prone to conspiracy theorizing than the right. For example, Democrats/liberals are more likely than Republicans/conservatives to believe in conspiracy theories that identify Republicans, conservatives, corporations, and the rich as conspirators (Enders et al, 2021 ; Miller et al, 2016 ; Oliver & Wood, 2014 ; Uscinski & Parent, 2014 ). There are also many conspiracy theories finding equal support among the left and right, including theories involving “chem-trails”, the moon landing, fluoridated water, Freemasons, lizard people, and television mind control, to name a few (Jenson, 2013 ; Smallpage et al, 2017 ).…”

“…Moreover, the asymmetries identified in studies of online behavior are often due to small numbers of Republicans/conservatives who are not representative of the right as a whole (Lawson & Kakkar, 2021 ) or idiosyncratic socio-political circumstances (Garrett & Bond, 2021 ). Finally, several studies find that the general predisposition toward conspiracy theorizing is balanced between the right and left (e.g., Enders et al, 2021 ; Uscinski et al, 2016 , 2021 ). For every investigation demonstrating asymmetry there is a counterweight showing the opposite.…”

“…Polls show that many Americans, occasionally majorities, believe in various conspiracy theories (Enders et al, 2021 ). These beliefs are associated with numerous counterproductive behavioral tendencies (Jolley, Mari, et al 2020a ), including poor health practices (Romer & Jamieson, 2020 ), nonnormative political engagement (Sternisko et al, 2020 ), and discrimination against racial and ethnic minority groups (Jolley, Meleady, et al 2020b ).…”

“…On the one hand, several studies find supportive evidence for this asymmetry thesis in the form of correlations between Republican/conservative self-identification and various operationalizations of conspiricism (e.g., van der Linden et al, 2021 ). On the other hand, some studies fail to identify such asymmetries, instead concluding that conspiracy theorizing is a “widespread tendency across the entire ideological spectrum” (Oliver & Wood, 2014 ; see also Enders et al, 2021 ). As this impasse persists, much hangs in the balance, including the development of strategies for combating the spread of conspiracy theories (Wittenberg & Berinsky, 2020 ).…”