Conspiracy believers perceive an ideological match with their party

Abstract

ABSTRACT Research demonstrates conspiracy endorsement arises from a strong motivation to preserve beliefs. This same motive is implicated in political projection—the degree to which political judgments about groups are anchored on the self. This paper is the first to test the hypothesis that conspiracy endorsement regulates the magnitude of in-group projection. Empirical evidence from the 2012, 2016 American National Election Surveys is presented. Across the ideological spectrum, Democrats and Republicans that endorsed party concordant conspiracies were more likely than party members that did not to perceive strong similarity between their own ideology and the ideology of their party. Whether liberal, moderate, or conservative, conspiracy believers do not consider their ideological preferences as unique. Rather they perceive their ideological preferences as widely shared by in-group party members.