Andy’s Quick Hits (261): Really? Belief In Conspiracies Not Increasing!

We may feel like we’re in an age of conspiracy theories, that social media is turbocharging the wild and wacky theories, and the so-called information bubbles are sending people down conspiracy rabbit holes that the never get out of. I certainly know a few people who seem to have fallen prey to this. Which is why this piece of research caught my eye and initially sounded wrong.

So, belief in conspiracies is not increasing, really?

Yes, really. This is what Joseph Uscinski of the University of Miami reported in a recently published paper. He and fellow collaborators came to this conclusion after four separate analyses in the USA and Europe.

• Analysed whether beliefs in certain conspiracy theories — including theories related to COVID-19 and the Kennedy assassination — have increased among Americans.
• Evaluated beliefs in conspiracy theories, including, for example, that human-driven global warming is a hoax, in six European countries.
• Evaluated Americans’ beliefs in which specific groups are conspiring.
• And finally, measured general lines of thought in the U.S. related to belief in conspiracy theories.