Conspiracy endorsement as motivated reasoning: The moderating roles of political knowledge and trust

• Autores: Joanne M. Miller, Christi L. Saunders, Christina E. Farhart
• Localización: American Journal of Political Science, ISSN-e 1540-5907, Vol. 60, Nº. 4, 2016, págs. 824-844
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Given the potential political and social significance of conspiracy beliefs, a substantial and growing body of work examines the individual-level correlates of belief in conspiracy theories and general conspiratorial predispositions. However, although we know much about the psychological antecedents of conspiracy endorsement, we know less about the individual-level political causes of these prevalent and consequential beliefs. Our work draws from the extant literature to posit that endorsement of conspiracy theories is a motivated process that serves both ideological and psychological needs. In doing so, we develop a theory that identifies a particular type of person-one who is both highly knowledgeable about politics and lacking in trust-who is most susceptible to ideologically motivated conspiracy endorsement. Further, we demonstrate that the moderators of belief in conspiracy theories are strikingly different for conservatives and liberals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]