Majorities of Americans hold at least some conspiratorial beliefs

Evidence

An experiment that exposed people to a range of conspiratorial rumors (not all of them about politics) found that “over 70% of respondents expressed support for at least one of the statements,” leading political scientist Adam Berinsky to conclude, “While some people hold mostly crazy beliefs, most people hold at least some crazy beliefs.” For instance, in August 2004, 49 percent of New York City residents believed that officials of the US government “knew in advance that attacks were planned on or around September 11, 2001, and that they consciously failed to act.” — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 120

Categorization

• QUESTION: The 70% experiment — which conspiratorial rumors, and does the finding replicate across design changes and samples?
• CANDY: Forty-nine percent of New Yorkers in 2004 believed the government knew about 9/11 in advance — a startlingly high stat for small talk.
• XREF: connects to: Conspiracy belief is universal across demographics while specific theories split along party lines — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 93; Millions of Americans in the 1990s believed they had been abducted by aliens. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 407; Majorities of Americans believe the government conceals UFO knowledge — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 409 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Over half of Americans now endorse at least one conspiracy theory. #corroborates (0.92) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 14
• Conspiratorial belief is mainstream across American demographics. #corroborates (0.90) — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 48
• Most people hold at least one conspiratorial belief. #corroborates (0.85) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 120
• Distrust, immobility, and fear of outsiders conspiratorialize American politics #expands (0.80) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 59
• Irrational beliefs tend to cluster with nationalist or prejudiced views #expands (0.75) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 268