Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35039654›Full record

ArticleNature human behaviour2022

Conspiracy mentality and political orientation across 26 countries.

Roland Imhoff, Felix Zimmer, Olivier Klein, João H C António, Maria Babinska, Adrian Bangerter, Michal Bilewicz, Nebojša Blanuša, Kosta Bovan, Rumena Bužarovska and 30 more

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature human behaviour, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
54citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

54 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  14. Review
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  16. Article
  17. Prevalence, nature, and determinants of COVID-19-related conspiracy theories among healthcare workers: a scoping review.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2025
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Social Psychological Perspectives on Political Polarization: Insights and Implications for Climate Change.Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2025
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

40 authors.

Roland ImhoffJohannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany. roland.imhoff@uni-mainz.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0807-463X
Felix ZimmerJohannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8127-0007
Olivier KleinUniversité libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
João H C AntónioUniversidade Católica Portuguesa, CIEP, Lisbon, Portugal.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5142-4258
Maria BabinskaUniversity of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2129-9449
Adrian BangerterUniversity of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
Michal BilewiczUniversity of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5027-1691
Nebojša BlanušaUniversity of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9430-7446
Kosta BovanUniversity of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5183-6065
Rumena BužarovskaUniversity Ss Cyril and Methodius, Skopje, North Macedonia.
Aleksandra CichockaUniversity of Kent, Canterbury, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1703-1586
Sylvain DelouvéeUniversité de Rennes, Rennes, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4029-597X
Karen M DouglasUniversity of Kent, Canterbury, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0381-6924
Asbjørn DyrendalNorwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Tom EtienneResearch Institute Kieskompas, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4299-6593
Biljana GjoneskaMacedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Skopje, North Macedonia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1200-6672
Sylvie GrafUniversity of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7810-5457
Estrella GualdaUniversidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0220-2135
Gilad HirschbergerInterdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya, Israel.
Anna KendeELTE, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5148-0145
Yordan KutiyskiResearch Institute Kieskompas, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Peter KrekóELTE, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4751-4717
Andre KrouwelVrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Silvia MariUniversity of Milano - Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
Jasna Milošević ĐorđevićSingidunum University, Belgrade, Serbia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9898-894X
Maria Serena PanasitiSapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Myrto PantaziUniversity of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Ljupcho PetkovskiInstitute for Social Sciences and Humanities, Skopje, North Macedonia.
Giuseppina PorcielloSapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8374-5320
André RabeloUniversidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5236-7574
Raluca Nicoleta RaduUniversity of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7888-5123
Florin A SavaWest University of Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8898-1306
Michael SchepisiSapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Robbie M SuttonUniversity of Kent, Canterbury, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1542-1716
Viren SwamiAnglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.
Hulda ThórisdóttirUniversity of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8350-6573
Vladimir TurjačaninUniversity of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8706-3503
Pascal Wagner-EggerUniversité de Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.
Iris ŽeželjUniversity of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9527-1406
Jan-Willem van ProoijenVrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6236-0819

Funding

Grantová Agentura České Republiky (Grant Agency of the Czech Republic) 20-01214S
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

People differ in their general tendency to endorse conspiracy theories (that is, conspiracy mentality). Previous research yielded inconsistent findings on the relationship between conspiracy mentality and political orientation, showing a greater conspiracy mentality either among the political right (a linear relation) or amongst both the left and right extremes (a curvilinear relation). We revisited this relationship across two studies spanning 26 countries (combined N = 104,253) and found overall evidence for both linear and quadratic relations, albeit small and heterogeneous across countries. We also observed stronger support for conspiracy mentality among voters of opposition parties (that is, those deprived of political control). Nonetheless, the quadratic effect of political orientation remained significant when adjusting for political control deprivation. We conclude that conspiracy mentality is associated with extreme left- and especially extreme right-wing beliefs, and that this non-linear relation may be strengthened by, but is not reducible to, deprivation of political control.

Identifiers

PMID35039654

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.