People who lean politically to the right are more likely to fall for conspiracy theories than those on the left – but not for other types of false or misleading information. And regardless of ideology, we tend to accept political claims that align with our own beliefs. This is shown in a doctoral thesis from Linköping University, Sweden.
"Conspiracy theories can have a very strong mobilising force, as seen during the storming of the Capitol. Several of those who took part believe in conspiracy theories," says Julia Aspernäs, from the Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning at Linköping University, Sweden.
The doctoral thesis examines who tends to fall for false or misleading information – so-called misinformation. One of the aspects investigated is how political orientation influences susceptibility to misinformation. The answer is that it depends on the type of misinformation in question. The conclusions are based on survey responses from around 2,500 participants in Sweden and the UK.
Julia Aspernäs studied three different forms of misinformation. In the first case, participants were asked to judge whether a certain conclusion followed logically from two premises – a so-called syllogism. When the syllogisms were politically charged, an equal number of left-leaning and right-leaning examples were used.
The results showed a weak but clear tendency to commit so-called logical fallacies, whether people are left- or right-leaning, when the topic concerns their own core issues.
"We simply become worse at evaluating information in areas that matter to us, where it affects our self-image," says Julia Aspernäs.
The results are in line with previous research, but Julia Aspernäs points out that her method removes other influencing factors and more clearly shows that it is indeed our political beliefs that motivate us to think in a particular way.
The second type of misinformation that was tested was conspiracy theories, that is, theories that run counter to established knowledge and that claim that malicious plots lie behind major events and phenomena in society. Most were politically neutral, but when they were politically loaded, the researchers were careful to ensure a balance between right and left.
The results showed that people who identify themselves as right-leaning are more likely to accept conspiracy theories than left-leaning individuals. Here too, the correlation was weak but statistically significant. People on the right were also more willing to spread conspiracy theories than people on the left.
The third type of misinformation examined was the tendency to perceive deep meaning in nonsense sentences – what researchers call "pseudo-profound bullshit". Here, no differences were found between left- and right-leaning individuals.
Why right-leaning people should be more vulnerable to conspiracy theories is unclear, according to Julia Aspernäs. One explanation may be exposure, as more conspiracy theories circulate in right-wing environments. Another could be psychological: previous research shows that people with a conservative disposition tend to look for threats, which may make them more receptive to ideas about malevolent conspiracies.
There are also theories suggesting that the phenomenon may partly be explained by the degree to which individuals hold anti-democratic values – something that can be found on both sides of the political spectrum. This is an area that Julia Aspernäs would like to explore further. However, she raises a note of caution.
"I don't know whether it helps us move forward, for example in public debate, by singling out certain groups. And the correlations we see, where right-leaning people stand out, are not very strong."
