Do Survey Questions Spread Conspiracy Beliefs

Datos Bibliográficos

ID13015776
AutoresClifford (0000-0002-9401-7481, University of Houston, autor de correspondencia), Brian W Sullivan (0000-0002-2620-4437, Foreign Service Institute)
Año2023
Volumen10
Número2
Páginas231-241
Fecha de publicación2023-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Experimental Political Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2052-2630 • E-ISSN: 2052-2649
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/xps.2023.1
OpenAlexW4320920396
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas26

Conspiracy theories and misinformation have become increasingly prominent in politics, and these beliefs have pernicious effects on political behavior. A prominent line of research suggests that these beliefs are promoted by repeated exposure. Yet, as scholars have rushed to understand these beliefs, they have exposed countless respondents to conspiratorial claims, raising the question of whether researchers are contributing to their spread. We investigate this possibility using a pre-registered within-subjects experiment embedded in a panel survey. The results suggest that exposure to a standard conspiracy question causes a significant increase in the likelihood of endorsing that conspiracy a week later. However, this exposure effect does not occur with a question format that offers an alternative, non-conspiratorial explanation for the target event. Thus, we recommend that researchers reduce the likelihood of spreading conspiracy beliefs by adopting a question format that asks respondents to choose between alternative explanations for an event

Event (particle physics · Misinformation · Political science · Politics · Raising (metalworking · Engineering · Law · Media Influence and Politics · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology