Why Do Authoritarian Conservatives Believe Conspiracies More Readily?

A new study has found that conservatives are significantly more likely to endorse conspiracy theories than liberals, partly because they score higher on measures of paranoia and partisan reasoning. The researchers analyzed a survey of 1,230 people and found that conservatives and Republicans are more likely to believe conspiracy theories that fit their predispositions and biases. Previous research yielded inconsistent findings on the relationship between conspiracy mentality and political orientation, showing a greater conspiracy mentality. Participants with a higher conspiracy mentality were more susceptible to distorted news and would see it as more credible.

People can be prone to believe in conspiracy theories due to a combination of personality traits and motivations, including relying strongly on intuition, feeling a sense of antagonism, and superiority. A receptivity to fake news, conspiracy theories, and other kinds of misinformation may make people more susceptible to antidemocratic ideas, particularly insofar as it leads to a “post-truth”.

The relationship between ideology and conspiratorial thinking was mediated by a strong distrust of officialdom and paranoid ideation, both of which were higher. Conservatives have lower sensitivity than liberals, performing worse at distinguishing truths and falsehoods. Ideological conservatives who frequently discuss politics showed higher association with a conservative conspiracy theory than conservatives who did not frequently discuss politics.

In this scenario, right-wing extremist groups played a major role in spreading hatred towards Jews and Muslims, as well as anti-elite, racist, and anti-racist ideologies. Conservatives in the United States were not only more likely than liberals to endorse specific conspiracy theories but also more likely to believe in conspiracy thinking.