Does Rhetoric Drive Conspiracy Theory Beliefs?
What leads people to believe in conspiracy theories? While scholars have learned much about both the psychological, social, and political factors associated with individuals’ receptivity to conspiracy theories, and the rhetoric with which these ideas are communicated, these two lines of research hav...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2024-12-01
|
| Series: | Genealogy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2313-5778/8/4/149 |
| _version_ | 1826916875180703744 |
|---|---|
| author | Casey Klofstad Joseph Uscinski |
| author_facet | Casey Klofstad Joseph Uscinski |
| author_sort | Casey Klofstad |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | What leads people to believe in conspiracy theories? While scholars have learned much about both the psychological, social, and political factors associated with individuals’ receptivity to conspiracy theories, and the rhetoric with which these ideas are communicated, these two lines of research have often proceeded in isolation, leaving scholars not fully understanding if rhetoric persuades audiences of conspiracy theories. Employing two U.S. national survey experiments, we test the effect of six rhetorical devices on respondents’ endorsements of eleven different conspiracy theories. Across both studies, we fail to find evidence showing that these rhetorical devices increased the endorsement of any of the eleven conspiracy theories. These findings suggest that conspiracy theory beliefs are more the product of worldviews and group identities than of leaders’ communication styles. |
| first_indexed | 2025-02-17T12:23:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-13155b0abbb8426aabba0068f0d9dfe3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2313-5778 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-17T12:23:56Z |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Genealogy |
| spelling | doaj.art-13155b0abbb8426aabba0068f0d9dfe32024-12-27T14:28:08ZengMDPI AGGenealogy2313-57782024-12-018414910.3390/genealogy8040149Does Rhetoric Drive Conspiracy Theory Beliefs?Casey Klofstad0Joseph Uscinski1Department of Political Science, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USADepartment of Political Science, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USAWhat leads people to believe in conspiracy theories? While scholars have learned much about both the psychological, social, and political factors associated with individuals’ receptivity to conspiracy theories, and the rhetoric with which these ideas are communicated, these two lines of research have often proceeded in isolation, leaving scholars not fully understanding if rhetoric persuades audiences of conspiracy theories. Employing two U.S. national survey experiments, we test the effect of six rhetorical devices on respondents’ endorsements of eleven different conspiracy theories. Across both studies, we fail to find evidence showing that these rhetorical devices increased the endorsement of any of the eleven conspiracy theories. These findings suggest that conspiracy theory beliefs are more the product of worldviews and group identities than of leaders’ communication styles.https://www.mdpi.com/2313-5778/8/4/149conspiracy theoryrhetoricconspiracy thinkingexperimentpersuasion |
| spellingShingle | Casey Klofstad Joseph Uscinski Does Rhetoric Drive Conspiracy Theory Beliefs? Genealogy conspiracy theory rhetoric conspiracy thinking experiment persuasion |
| title | Does Rhetoric Drive Conspiracy Theory Beliefs? |
| title_full | Does Rhetoric Drive Conspiracy Theory Beliefs? |
| title_fullStr | Does Rhetoric Drive Conspiracy Theory Beliefs? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Does Rhetoric Drive Conspiracy Theory Beliefs? |
| title_short | Does Rhetoric Drive Conspiracy Theory Beliefs? |
| title_sort | does rhetoric drive conspiracy theory beliefs |
| topic | conspiracy theory rhetoric conspiracy thinking experiment persuasion |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2313-5778/8/4/149 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT caseyklofstad doesrhetoricdriveconspiracytheorybeliefs AT josephuscinski doesrhetoricdriveconspiracytheorybeliefs |