Unravelling the Connection between Information Seeking Behavior, Conspiracy Beliefs, and Political Ideology: How is information seeking behavior related to believing in conspiracy theories and political ideology?

There is evidence stating that both conspiracy believers and political extremists seek information according to their beliefs and ignore contradictory statements. This paper aimed to investigate whether such similarities in information seeking behavior also exists when people are confronted with neutral, not politically loaded information. To examine the issue, an online study including 206 participants was performed in the UK. Information sampling behavior when confronted with neutral, politically unloaded information was tested in an adapted Information Sampling Task. Additionally, the study entailed a survey to examine the variables conspiracy mentality (CM), specific conspiracy beliefs (SCB) and political orientation (PO). Most importantly, it was found that PO is a significant predictor of engaging in CM and SCB. Additionally, politically right oriented people compared to politically left oriented people were more likely to engage in CM and SCB. Nevertheless, no significance...Show moreThere is evidence stating that both conspiracy believers and political extremists seek information according to their beliefs and ignore contradictory statements. This paper aimed to investigate whether such similarities in information seeking behavior also exists when people are confronted with neutral, not politically loaded information. To examine the issue, an online study including 206 participants was performed in the UK. Information sampling behavior when confronted with neutral, politically unloaded information was tested in an adapted Information Sampling Task. Additionally, the study entailed a survey to examine the variables conspiracy mentality (CM), specific conspiracy beliefs (SCB) and political orientation (PO). Most importantly, it was found that PO is a significant predictor of engaging in CM and SCB. Additionally, politically right oriented people compared to politically left oriented people were more likely to engage in CM and SCB. Nevertheless, no significance was discovered when examining whether an information sampling pattern could be found in conspiracy believers or political extremists when confronted with neutral, politically unloaded information. Overall, this research supports the already existing findings about the relationship between conspiracy theories and political ideology, and urges future research to investigate potential underlying patterns that could lead to believing in conspiracy beliefs and having extreme political ideologies.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

Unravelling the Connection between Information Seeking Behavior, Conspiracy Beliefs, and Political Ideology: How is information seeking behavior related to believing in conspiracy theories and political ideology?