Conspiratorial belief is driven by minority status and anomia, not just white politics
Evidence
Yet a variety of studies going back decades show that in the past, at least, conspiratorial beliefs were slightly more common among black and, to a lesser extent, Latinx communities. In 1994, Rutgers sociology professor Ted Goertzel wrote that “minority status” was strongly correlated with a belief in conspiracy theories. So was what he called “anomia,” a belief in the breakdown of the social order, characterized by three attitudes: “The belief that the situation of the average person is getting worse, that it is hardly fair to bring a child into today’s world, and that most public officials are not interested in the average man.” — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 144
Categorization
- XREF: Core support for the reader’s thesis: conspiracy belief stems from social marginalization/threat, the same mechanism as authoritarianism and prejudice psychology in the vault. — connects to: Confirmation bias makes conspiracism rise among the political out-group — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 118; Conspiracy belief is universal across demographics while specific theories split along party lines — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 93; Conspiratorial belief is mainstream across American demographics. — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 48 (+3 more)
- QUESTION: Worth chasing: which specific mechanisms ‘minority status’ operates through, and how ‘anomia’ maps onto the vault’s scapegoating/social-threat claims.
- SEED: Potential article angle: conspiracy belief as a shared psychological response to social exclusion across both white and black communities — undermining the ‘just white extremism’ frame.
Broader Connections
- Economic insecurity and minority status predict higher conspiracy belief regardless of education or income
#corroborates(0.85) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 145 - Conspiracy belief is universal across demographics while specific theories split along party lines
#qualifies(0.80) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 93 - Confirmation bias makes conspiracism rise among the political out-group
#corroborates(0.75) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 118 - Conspiratorial belief correlates with lower education and income
#qualifies(0.72) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 67 - Conspiratorial belief is mainstream across American demographics.
#qualifies(0.70) — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 48