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Article Version of Record

Do conspiracy beliefs form a belief system? Examining the structure and organization of conspiracy beliefs

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Enders, Adam M.
Uscinski, Joseph E.
Klofstad, Casey A.
Seelig, Michelle I.
Wuchty, Stefan
Murthi, Manohar N.
Premaratne, Kamal
Funchion, John R.

Abstract / Description

Despite regular reference to conspiracy theories as a “belief system,” few studies have attempted to explore the structure and organization of conspiracy beliefs beyond an examination of correlations between those beliefs. Employing unique data from two national surveys that includes respondent beliefs in 27 conspiracy theories, we decipher the substantive dimensions along which conspiracy beliefs are organized, as well as subgroupings within those dimensions. We find that variation in these conspiracy beliefs can be accounted for with two dimensions: the first regards partisan and ideological identities, while the other is composed of anti-social orientations, such as narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and acceptance of political violence. Importantly, these two dimensions are uncorrelated. We also find that conspiracy beliefs group together by substantive content, such as those regarding partisan actors or science/medicine. Our findings also demonstrate that inferences about the correlates of conspiracy beliefs are highly contingent on the specific conspiracy theories employed by researchers. We provide suggestions for future research in this vein.

Keyword(s)

conspiracy theory ideology belief system dark triad QAnon

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2021-06-29

Journal title

Journal of Social and Political Psychology

Volume

9

Issue

1

Page numbers

255–271

Publisher

PsychOpen GOLD

Publication status

publishedVersion

Review status

peerReviewed

Is version of

Citation

Enders, A. M., Uscinski, J. E., Klofstad, C. A., Seelig, M. I., Wuchty, S., Murthi, M. N., Premaratne, K., & Funchion, J. R. (2021). Do conspiracy beliefs form a belief system? Examining the structure and organization of conspiracy beliefs. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 9(1), 255-271. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.5649
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Enders, Adam M.
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Uscinski, Joseph E.
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Klofstad, Casey A.
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Seelig, Michelle I.
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Wuchty, Stefan
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Murthi, Manohar N.
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Premaratne, Kamal
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Funchion, John R.
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2026-05-12T13:03:26Z
  • Made available on
    2026-05-12T13:03:26Z
  • Date of first publication
    2021-06-29
  • Abstract / Description
    Despite regular reference to conspiracy theories as a “belief system,” few studies have attempted to explore the structure and organization of conspiracy beliefs beyond an examination of correlations between those beliefs. Employing unique data from two national surveys that includes respondent beliefs in 27 conspiracy theories, we decipher the substantive dimensions along which conspiracy beliefs are organized, as well as subgroupings within those dimensions. We find that variation in these conspiracy beliefs can be accounted for with two dimensions: the first regards partisan and ideological identities, while the other is composed of anti-social orientations, such as narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and acceptance of political violence. Importantly, these two dimensions are uncorrelated. We also find that conspiracy beliefs group together by substantive content, such as those regarding partisan actors or science/medicine. Our findings also demonstrate that inferences about the correlates of conspiracy beliefs are highly contingent on the specific conspiracy theories employed by researchers. We provide suggestions for future research in this vein.
    en_US
  • Publication status
    publishedVersion
  • Review status
    peerReviewed
  • Citation
    Enders, A. M., Uscinski, J. E., Klofstad, C. A., Seelig, M. I., Wuchty, S., Murthi, M. N., Premaratne, K., & Funchion, J. R. (2021). Do conspiracy beliefs form a belief system? Examining the structure and organization of conspiracy beliefs. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 9(1), 255-271. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.5649
  • ISSN
    2195-3325
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/17414
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.22052
  • Language of content
    eng
  • Publisher
    PsychOpen GOLD
  • Is version of
    https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.5649
  • Is related to
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.4776
  • Is related to
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.4777
  • Is related to
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.4930
  • Keyword(s)
    conspiracy theory
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    ideology
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    belief system
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    dark triad
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    QAnon
    en_US
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    150
  • Title
    Do conspiracy beliefs form a belief system? Examining the structure and organization of conspiracy beliefs
    en_US
  • DRO type
    article
  • Issue
    1
  • Journal title
    Journal of Social and Political Psychology
  • Page numbers
    255–271
  • Volume
    9
  • Visible tag(s)
    Version of Record