Over half of Americans now endorse at least one conspiracy theory.
Evidence
There’s justifiable concern about the ways in which fake news is undermining democracy. For example, a 2016 poll by the Washington-based research centre Pew revealed that over 65 per cent of Americans report that fake news leaves them feeling confused about basic facts, and 83 per cent of Europeans think fake news is a major problem – with at least half of those polled reporting that they encounter misinformation on a weekly basis. Even conspiracy theories are no longer reserved for the ‘lunatic fringe’: over 50 per cent of Americans now endorse at least one conspiracy theory. — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 14
People who are so deeply motivated to hold a certain view that they will deflect away from the evidence like Knodel and B.o.B have, typically, been few and far between. It’s a reflection of the larger population: most people are not extreme. At least not yet. But conspiracy theories are no longer reserved for those operating on the fringes of society. A 2014 study revealed that over 50 per cent of Americans endorse at least one type of conspiracy theory and in 2021, a poll from the Washington-based Public Religion Research Institute found that about 15 per cent of Americans believe in the ‘QAnon conspiracy’ – the bizarre idea that ‘the government, media, and financial worlds in the US are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping paedophiles who run a global child sex-trafficking operation.’ The notion that climate change is a hoax or that Covid-19 is a bioweapon engineered by a military lab in Wuhan, are receiving an even more worrying degree of endorsement from large segments of the population – up to a third of those surveyed in some countries. — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 169
Categorization
- QUESTION: Worth checking what ‘endorse at least one’ was measured on — different conspiracy-theory batteries produce wildly different base rates, and this 50% figure likely depends on a very broad list.
- XREF: The ‘confused about basic facts’ framing links to the reader’s preserved material on media-defined reality and information-disruption, e.g. from Communication as Culture. — connects to: Majorities of Americans believe the government conceals UFO knowledge — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 409; More than half of Americans endorse conspiratorial narratives about current political events — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 31; Majorities of Americans hold at least some conspiratorial beliefs — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 120 (+6 more)
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 14; Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 169
Broader Connections
- Most people hold at least one conspiratorial belief.
#corroborates(0.90) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 120 - Conspiratorial belief is mainstream across American demographics.
#corroborates(0.88) — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 48 - Conspiracy belief is pervasive across every demographic group, not a fringe phenomenon
#corroborates(0.85) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 403 - Conspiracy belief is universal across demographics while specific theories split along party lines
#expands(0.80) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 93 - Stress and institutional distrust drive Americans toward conspiracy explanations of unwelcome reality.
#expands(0.78) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 54 - Conspiracy belief rates may be stable while their reach has exploded
#qualifies(0.72) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 227