Loziak Alexander, Havrillová Dominika
Institute of Social Sciences of the Centre of Social and Psychological Sciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Košice, Slovakia.
Eur J Psychol. 2024 Feb 29;20(1):1-15. doi: 10.5964/ejop.10049. eCollection 2024 Feb.
Background and research aims. Considering the high prevalence of conspiracy theories and misinformation, there is an urgent need to explain the tendency to adopt a conspiracy mentality and identify behavioural (including voting) outcomes of a high conspiracy mentality. The aims of the present paper are 1) the examination of populist attitudes dimensions, relative deprivation and mistrust of expertise as predictors of conspiracy mentality and 2) proposal of comprehensive models, that combine predictors of conspiracy mentality and its voting consequences.
Studies utilised OSL regression and structural equation modelling.
The overall regression was statistically significant. It was found that dimensions of populist attitudes (anti-elitism, sovereignty), relative deprivation and mistrust of expertise were significant predictors of conspiracy mentality. In line with the second research aim, the fitness of models was confirmed and results suggest mistrust of expertise is also a significant predictor of far-right voting.
The contribution of the paper lies in connecting conspiracy mentality with not only attitudes but also with important behaviour outcome - voting behaviour. We propose future research should experimentally examine whether the reduction of some of the identified predictors could possibly lower levels of conspiracy mentality and whether this reduction translates into voting behaviour.
背景与研究目的。鉴于阴谋论和错误信息的高流行率，迫切需要解释形成阴谋心态的倾向，并确定高阴谋心态的行为（包括投票）结果。本文的目的是：1）考察民粹主义态度维度、相对剥夺感和对专业知识的不信任作为阴谋心态的预测因素；2）提出综合模型，将阴谋心态的预测因素及其投票后果结合起来。
研究采用了OSL回归和结构方程建模。
总体回归在统计学上具有显著性。研究发现，民粹主义态度维度（反精英主义、主权）、相对剥夺感和对专业知识的不信任是阴谋心态的显著预测因素。与第二个研究目的一致，模型的拟合度得到了确认，结果表明对专业知识的不信任也是极右翼投票的显著预测因素。
本文的贡献在于不仅将阴谋心态与态度联系起来，还与重要的行为结果——投票行为联系起来。我们建议未来的研究应通过实验考察减少一些已确定的预测因素是否可能降低阴谋心态的水平，以及这种减少是否会转化为投票行为。
