Conspiracy Endorsement as Motivated Reasoning: The Moderating Roles of Political Knowledge and Trust

TLDR

Conspiracy beliefs have political and social significance, yet while psychological antecedents are well studied, the individual‑level political causes remain less understood. The authors posit that endorsement of conspiracy theories is a motivated process serving both ideological and psychological needs. They develop a theory identifying highly politically knowledgeable, low‑trust individuals as most susceptible to ideologically motivated conspiracy endorsement. The study demonstrates that the moderators of conspiracy belief differ markedly between conservatives and liberals.

Abstract

Abstract 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 .