On the Relation Between Religiosity and the Endorsement of Conspiracy Theories: The Role of Political Orientation

Abstract

Religious and conspiracy beliefs share the feature of assuming powerful forces that determine the fate of the world. Correspondingly, they have been theorized to address similar psychological needs and to be based on similar cognitions, but there exist little authoritative answers about their relationship. We delineate two theory‐driven possibilities. If conspiracy theories and religions serve as surrogates for each other by fulfilling similar needs, the two beliefs should be negatively correlated. If conspiracy and religious beliefs stem from the same values and cognitions, this would speak for a positive correlation that might be diminished—for example—by controlling for shared political ideologies. We approached the question with a meta‐analysis (N = 10,242), partial correlations from large Christian‐dominated datasets from Germany, Poland, and the United States (N = 12,612), and a preregistered U.S. study (N = 500). The results indicate that the correlations between religiosity and conspiracy theory endorsement were positive, and political orientation shared large parts of this covariance. Correlations of religiosity with the more need‐related conspiracy mentality differed between countries. We conclude that similarities in the explanatory style and ideologies seem to be central for the relation between intrinsic religiosity and endorsing conspiracy theories, but psychological needs only play a minor role.

Links Between Conspiracy Thinking and Attitudes Toward Democracy and Religion: Survey Data From Poland

“…This could contribute to a higher level of conspiracy thinking among more religious conservative voters. The comparative data from 2013 and 2017 (Frenken et al, 2022) seem to confirm this view. Nevertheless, more data is needed to establish how the political situation moderates religiosity and conspiracy thinking.…”

“…According to them, the correlation of the endorsement of specific conspiracy theories with religiosity was significantly positive based on international meta-analysis and datasets from Poland. However, after applying control for political orientation, correlations of conspiracy beliefs and conspiracy mentality with religiosity decreased substantially in Poland, and conspiracy mentality showed modest negative correlations with religiosity (Frenken et al, 2022). Additionally, as the researchers conclude, national contexts are also important.…”

“…The Catholic church, for historical reasons (the importance of Pope John Paul II for the democratic Solidarity Social Movement, for instance, or the role of the church for the sustainment of identity during the partition period before World War I), has a high profile in the Polish public sphere; thus, religion is relatively more politically laden. Frenken et al (2022) suggest that "this might translate into substantial correlations between religiosity and [conspiracy theory] endorsement." According to them, the correlation of the endorsement of specific conspiracy theories with religiosity was significantly positive based on international meta-analysis and datasets from Poland.…”

When Believing in Divine Immanence Explains Vaccine Hesitancy: A Matter of Conspiracy Beliefs?

“…If we extend the idea of the external locus of control to the existence of external (even hidden) forces that can impact one's life, we naturally come to the possibility that believing in conspiracy theories represents a potential mediator of this relationship, from religiosity to beliefs in conspiracy theories, and from the latter to vaccine hesitancy. The idea of a relationship between religiosity and beliefs in conspiracy theories traces back to the seminal work of Ward and Voas (2011) and has been explored in several studies, both conceptually and empirically (Asprem & Dyrendal, 2015;Dyrendal & Hestad, 2021;Dyrendal et al, 2018;Frenken et al, 2022;Jasinskaja-Lahti & Jetten, 2019;Ladini, 2022). Conspiracy theories were even referred to as "quasi-religious beliefs" (Franks et al, 2013, p. 10).…”

“…To substantiate this relationship, we consider a mechanism suggesting that the effect of beliefs in divine immanence is mediated by conspiratorial beliefs. In our view, the mediation effect builds up in two steps: on the one hand, assumptions about divine agency in one's life share common traits with conspiratorial ideation (e.g., Dyrendal et al, 2018;Frenken et al, 2022;Ladini, 2022;Ward & Voas, 2011); on the other hand, conspiratorial beliefs strongly predict vaccine hesitancy (e.g., Jennings et al, 2021).…”