Category: Psychological and Brain Sciences
Left–right political orientations are not systematically related to conspiracism
September 24, 2024 Written by CAS Communications
Cross-national data reveal that conspiracism varies by context rather than ideology
Joanne M. Miller, professor in the Department of Political Science & International Relations and the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, contributed “Left–Right Political Orientations Are Not Systematically Related to Conspiracism” (Political Psychology, 2024) along with authors Adam M. Enders, Casey A. Klofstad, Shane Littrell, Yannis Theocharis, Joseph E. Uscinski and Jan Zilinsky.
The study reexamines the assumption that individuals on the political right are inherently more conspiratorial than those on the left. Using data from 77 samples across 27 countries, the authors test competing hypotheses about ideology and conspiracism.
Findings reveal no consistent global pattern linking left–right ideology to conspiratorial thinking. Instead, ideological effects vary widely across time and national context, suggesting that conspiracism is not an inherently partisan phenomenon but rather shaped by situational and cultural factors.
