2018/07/09 by Adam Enders, Steven M. Smallpage, Robert Lupton · 3 citations
Social Sciences · Computer Science · #Misinformation and Its Impacts #Social Media and Politics #Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection
paper · doi:10.1017/s0007123417000837
openalex publication_date 2018/07/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
While research on conspiracy theories and those who believe them has recently undergone a renaissance, there still exists a great deal of uncertainty about the measurement of conspiratorial beliefs and orientations, and the consequences of a conspiratorial mindset for expressly political attitudes and behaviors. We first demonstrate, using data from the 2012 American National Election Study, that beliefs in a variety of specific conspiracy theories are simultaneously, but differentially, the product of both a general tendency toward conspiratorial thinking and left/right political orientations. Next, we employ unique data including a general measure of conspiratorial thinking to explore the predictors of specific conspiracy beliefs. We find that partisan and ideological self-identifications are more important than any other variable in predicting ‘birther’ beliefs, while conspiratorial thinking is most important in predicting conspiracy beliefs about the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.