Mutual suspicion at the political extremes: How ideology predicts conspiracy beliefs

In the present chapter, we examine how conspiracy beliefs, as well as other suspicious political perceptions, are related to political ideology. Based on a review of the literature as well as recent findings, we propose that although some conspiracy theories are mostly endorsed by the political “left” (e.g., conspiracy theories about capitalism), and others by the political “right” (e.g., conspiracy theories about climate change), people’s underlying susceptibility to conspiracy beliefs is best predicted by political extremism or moderation. Various recent findings indeed reveal a curvilinear relation between ideology and conspiracy beliefs, consistently indicating a stronger endorsement of conspiracy theories at both extremes than in the political centre. Moreover, political extremism also predicts related suspicious political perceptions, such as generalized distrust towards politicians, and EU skepticism. When looking specifically at party affiliation in a Dutch multi-party context, these suspicious beliefs flourish particularly among those who support socialist left and the populist right. It is concluded that political extremism is closely associated with political paranoia.