Political Extremism Predicts Belief in Conspiracy Theories

van Prooijen, Jan-Willem, Krouwel, André and Pollet, Thomas (2015) Political Extremism Predicts Belief in Conspiracy Theories. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 6 (5). pp. 570-578. ISSN 1948-5506

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Abstract

Historical records suggest that the political extremes—at both the “left” and the “right”—substantially endorsed conspiracy beliefs about other-minded groups. The present contribution empirically tests whether extreme political ideologies, at either side of the political spectrum, are positively associated with an increased tendency to believe in conspiracy theories. Four studies conducted in the United States and the Netherlands revealed a quadratic relationship between strength of political ideology and conspiracy beliefs about various political issues. Moreover, participants’ belief in simple political solutions to societal problems mediated conspiracy beliefs among both left- and right-wing extremists. Finally, the effects described here were not attributable to general attitude extremity. Our conclusion is that political extremism and conspiracy beliefs are strongly associated due to a highly structured thinking style that is aimed at making sense of societal events.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	C800 Psychology
Department:	Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Psychology
Depositing User:	Becky Skoyles
Date Deposited:	25 Sep 2017 11:36
Last Modified:	12 Oct 2019 17:27
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/31975

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