JOURNAL ARTICLE

Stolen elections: How conspiracy beliefs during the 2020 American presidential elections changed over time.

  • Published In: Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2023, v. 37, n. 2. P. 277 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Wang, Haiyan; van Prooijen, Jan‐Willem 3 of 3

Abstract

Conspiracy beliefs have been studied mostly through cross‐sectional designs. We conducted a five‐wave longitudinal study (N = 376; two waves before and three waves after the 2020 American presidential elections) to examine if the election results influenced specific conspiracy beliefs and conspiracy mentality, and whether effects differ between election winners (i.e., Biden voters) versus losers (i.e., Trump voters) at the individual level. Results revealed that conspiracy mentality kept unchanged over 2 months, providing first evidence that this indeed is a relatively stable trait. Specific conspiracy beliefs (outgroup and ingroup conspiracy beliefs) did change over time, however. In terms of group‐level change, outgroup conspiracy beliefs decreased over time for Biden voters but increased for Trump voters. Ingroup conspiracy beliefs decreased over time across all voters, although those of Trump voters decreased faster. These findings illuminate how specific conspiracy beliefs are, and conspiracy mentality is not, influenced by an election event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Applied Cognitive Psychology. 2023/03, Vol. 37, Issue 2, p277
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:History
  • Publication Date:2023
  • ISSN:0888-4080
  • DOI:10.1002/acp.3996
  • Accession Number:162510410
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of Applied Cognitive Psychology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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