The DOI matches its Crossref record; 12 of the 12 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Conspiracy Theories and the Paranoid Style(s) of Mass Opinion
Abstract
Although conspiracy theories have long been a staple of American political culture, no research has systematically examined the nature of their support in the mass public. Using four nationally representative surveys, sampled between 2006 and 2011, we find that half of the American public consistently endorses at least one conspiracy theory and that many popular conspiracy theories are differentiated along ideological and anomic dimensions. In contrast with many theoretical speculations, we do not find conspiracism to be a product of greater authoritarianism, ignorance, or political conservatism. Rather, the likelihood of supporting conspiracy theories is strongly predicted by a willingness to believe in other unseen, intentional forces and an attraction to Manichean narratives. These findings both demonstrate the widespread allure of conspiracy theories as political explanations and offer new perspectives on the forces that shape mass opinion and American political culture.
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Cited by
Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election
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Understanding Conspiracy Theories
Douglas, K. M., Uscinski, J. E., Sutton, R. M., Cichocka, A., Nefes, T., Ang, C. S., & Deravi, F. (2019) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.12568 · Cited by 1,511
Tucker, J. A., Guess, A., Barbera, P., Vaccari, C., Siegel, A., Sanovich, S., Stukal, D., & Nyhan, B. (2018) · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3144139 · Cited by 1,222
The Nature and Origins of Misperceptions: Understanding False and Unsupported Beliefs About Politics
Flynn, D. J., Nyhan, B., & Reifler, J. (2017) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.12394 · Cited by 1,183
Science audiences, misinformation, and fake news
Scheufele, D. A., & Krause, N. M. (2019) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1805871115 · Cited by 878
Metadata
- Authors
- Oliver, J. E., & Wood, T. J.
- Venue
- American Journal of Political Science
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2014-03-05
- Volume
- 58
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 952-966
- ISSN
- 0092-5853 (ISSN-L)
- 1540-5907
- OpenAlex
- W1479775167
- Cited by
- 877
- References
- 12
- FWCI
- 79.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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