The DOI matches its Crossref record; 41 of the 41 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Political Extremism Predicts Belief in Conspiracy Theories
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.
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Hayes, A. F., & Preacher, K. J. (2010) · Multivariate Behavioral Research · doi:10.1080/00273171.2010.498290 · Cited by 1,160
Lacking control increases illusory pattern perception
Whitson, J. A., & Galinsky, A. D. (2008) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1159845 · Cited by 1,119
Goertzel, T. (1994) · Political Psychology · doi:10.2307/3791630 · Cited by 1,094 · cited 2×
“…and facilitates other conspiratorial ideas, rendering belief in one conspiracy theory an excellent predictor of belief in other conspiracy theories (Goertzel, 1994; Lewandowski, Oberauer, & Gignac, 2013; Swami, Chamorro-Premuzic, & Furnham, 2010; Swami et al., 2011, 2013; Wood, Douglas, & Sutton,…”
BackgroundConspiracy theories: Causes and cures
Sunstein, C. R., & Vermeule, A. (2009) · Journal of Political Philosophy · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9760.2008.00325.x · Cited by 1,050 · cited 1×
“Various authors noted that the crippled epistemology that characterizes political extremism is also inherent to conspiracy beliefs (Sunstein & Vermeule, 2009; Swami et al., 2013).”
BackgroundDead and Alive: Beliefs in Contradictory Conspiracy Theories
Wood, M. J., Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2012) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/1948550611434786 · Cited by 660
Paranoia and self-consciousness.
Fenigstein, A., & Vanable, P. (1992) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.62.1.129 · Cited by 643
Lewandowsky, S., Oberauer, K., & Gignac, G. E. (2013) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797612457686 · Cited by 638
Groups as epistemic providers: Need for closure and the unfolding of group-centrism.
Kruglanski, A. W., Pierro, A., Mannetti, L., & Grada, E. D. (2006) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.113.1.84 · Cited by 555
Swami, V., Coles, R., Stieger, S., Pietschnig, J., Furnham, A., Rehim, S., & Voracek, M. (2011) · British Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8295.2010.02004.x · Cited by 502
Swami, V., Chamorro‐Premuzic, T., & Furnham, A. (2010) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.1583 · Cited by 499
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 601–624 of 624
Caroti, D. (2022) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/b247f1e8zeb02z4318z8ee2ze6eb1417241c · Cited by 1
Far-right infighting in digital spaces during the Capitol Hill riot
Williams, T., Dafnos, A., & Campbell, K. (2026) · Violence An International Journal · doi:10.1177/26330024261440559
“Based on distorted versions of reality (Kerodal et al., 2016), conspiracy myths are “ suspicions that a number of actors join together in secret agreement, and try to achieve a hidden goal, which is perceived as unlawful or malevolent ” (Van Prooijen et al., 2015: 571).”
Conspiracy beliefs and populist radical right attitudes: A comparative European analysis
Darder, A. B., & Kenny, J. (2026) · The British Journal of Politics and International Relations · doi:10.1177/13691481261433379
“Although both sides of the populist ideological extremes have been argued to be likely to express belief in conspiracy theories (Krouwel et al., 2017; Van Prooijen et al., 2015), some studies have identified conspiracy theories as a defining feature of the populist radical right.”
The Wrong Opinions: Psychological Underpinnings of Ideological PunishmentPreprint
Goksal, S., van Prooijen, J., & Spadaro, G. (2026) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.6584790
Babińska, M., Soral, W., & Bilewicz, M. (2026) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-18151-0_11
Bujňáková, J., & Mikušková, E. B. (2026) · Human Affairs · doi:10.1515/humaff-2025-0086
“There is also evidence that extreme political ideologies are linked to the inclination to interpret societal events via oversimpli fi ed explanations, alongside the constrained epistemology typical of conspiracy thinking (Bartlett and Miller 2010; van Prooijen et al. 2015).”
Pedrazzani, A., & Sumbul, U. (2026) · Political Studies · doi:10.1177/00323217261442716
Conspiracy Mentality and Political Orientation across 26 countriesPreprint
Zimmer, F., & Imhoff, R. (2022) · OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints)
Pandey, K., & Behera, N. (2026) · Behavioral sciences & the law · doi:10.1002/bsl.70064
Trübner, M., Patzina, A., Lehmann, J., Ortiz, M., Hoffmann, R., & Keßler, C. S. (2026) · Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1177/13591053261440268
Jakab, M. (2026) · Human Arenas · doi:10.1007/s42087-026-00647-6
“…a generic concept can in that regard be understood as a cognitive-epistemic orientation toward interpreting events through lenses of hidden agency, intentional design (rather than chance), or systematic concealment (Van Prooijen et al., 2015; Gjoneska, 2021; Tam & Kim, 2023 ; Zhang et al., 2025 ).”
Mulcahy, R., & Simpson, J. (2026) · Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1108/978-1-83797-787-120261002
Online Hate Production and Perpetration and the Theory of Recursive Cyber Grooming
E.Hawdon, J., Räsänen, P., & Costello, M. (2026) · Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1108/978-1-83708-352-720261003
Conspiracism and Political Conflict: An Introduction
Caiani, M., Solinas, M., & Trenz, H. (2026) · Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-13933-7_1
Alper, S., Konukoğlu, K., Bayrak, F., Yener, C., Bağcı, E. S., Doğruyol, B., & Yılmaz, O. (2026) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672261463908
Brack, N., & Marczyński, P. (2026) · Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-13933-7_8
On ‘Doing conspiracy theory’. Introduction and validation of the Conspiracy Practice Scale (CPS-6)
Knasmüller, F., Henze, D., Brunner, M., Nachtwey, O., Speck, S., & Kumkar, N. C. (2026) · Measurement Instruments for the Social Sciences · doi:10.5964/miss.19859
The Distinct Nomological Pathways of Psychological Factors of Conspiracy Mentality
Mashuri, A., & Zaduqisti, E. (2026) · Psychology and Developing Societies · doi:10.1177/09713336261467856
Robson, S. G., Martire, K., Pearson, S., Cosgrove, T., Jetten, J., Faasse, K., & Hornsey, M. J. (2026) · British Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjso.70117
“…include additional predictors linked to conspiracy belief, including conspiracy mentality, trust in experts, political orientation and socio-economic status (see Brotherton et al., 2013; Enders et al., 2024; Frenken et al., 2024; Imhoff et al., 2022; Van Prooijen et al., 2015; Vranic et al., 2022).”
Poor, S. V., & Herman, B. C. (2026) · Science & Education · doi:10.1007/s11191-026-00779-9
Rosas-Jiménez, C., Li, J.-X., & Fletcher, K. (2026) · Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy · doi:10.1080/15332691.2026.2733018
“In fact, extreme political ideologies have been shown to predict increased susceptibility to conspiracy theories, and it has been proposed that the relationship between political extremism and conspiracy beliefs is bidirectional and self-reinforcing (van Prooijen et al., 2015).”
Auliawan, F., Pambudi, K. S., & Thontowi, H. (2026) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.7497939
Wojczewski, T. (2026) · Alternatives Global Local Political · doi:10.1177/03043754261496352
Populism and conspiracy theories: A cross-national analysis
Sawyer, P. S. (2026) · Electoral Studies · doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2026.103173
Metadata
- Authors
- van Prooijen, J.-W., Krouwel, A. P. M., & Pollet, T. V.
- Affiliations
- VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
- Venue
- Social Psychological and Personality Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2015-01-12
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 570-578
- ISSN
- 1948-5506 (ISSN-L)
- 1948-5514
- OpenAlex
- W2327590731
- Cited by
- 626
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 38 · 2025: 62 · 2024: 69 · 2023: 71 · 2022: 115 · 2021: 111 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 54 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 8
- FWCI
- 96.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Social Psychological and Personality Science (publishedVersion)
- VU Research Portal (publishedVersion)
- Northumbria Research Link (Northumbria University) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Misinformation and Its Impacts
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- political extremism, conspiracy beliefs, political ideology, left-wing extremism, right-wing extremism, attitude extremity
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