People who lean politically to the right are more likely to fall for conspiracy theories than those on the left, but both sides struggle equally with logic when it challenges their worldviews, according to new research from Linköping University.
A doctoral thesis by Julia Aspernäs, based on survey responses from approximately 2,500 participants in Sweden and the UK, examines the psychological roots of receptivity to misinformation.
The research found a consistent asymmetry in conspiracy theories, claims that malicious secret plots underlie major events. Individuals identifying as right-wing were not only more likely to endorse these theories but also more willing to spread misinformation than their left-wing counterparts.
“Conspiracy theories can have a very strong mobilising force, as seen during the storming of the Capitol,” says Aspernäs, a PhD at the Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning. “Several of those who took part believe in conspiracy theories.”
Logical argument
The political divide vanishes when addressing other forms of misinformation. When participants were tested on “ideological belief bias” — the tendency to accept a logical argument simply because the conclusion aligns with one’s beliefs — both left- and right-wingers performed poorly.
Using syllogisms (logical puzzles where a conclusion must follow from two premises), the study showed that people across the political spectrum struggle to identify logical fallacies when the topic touches on their core values.
“We simply become worse at evaluating information in areas that matter to us, where it affects our self-image,” explains Aspernäs.
Pseudo-profound bullshit
Similarly, the study found no political difference in receptivity to “pseudo-profound bullshit” — grammatically correct but meaningless sentences designed to sound impressive.
The thesis identifies a critical new psychological predictor for misinformation susceptibility: “belief in subjectivist truth relativism”.
Individuals who believe that truth is relative to subjective experience — often phrased as “my truth” — were found to be significantly more receptive to both conspiracy theories and pseudo-profound bullshit, regardless of their political affiliation.
This belief system was also positively associated with a greater tendency to spread science misinformation.
Aspernäs suggests the right-wing susceptibility to conspiracies may stem from a combination of environmental and psychological factors.
“One explanation may be exposure, as more conspiracy theories circulate in right-wing environments,” she notes. “Another could be psychological: previous research shows that people with a conservative disposition tend to look for threats, which may make them more receptive to ideas about malevolent conspiracies.”
Despite these findings, Aspernäs urges caution in interpreting the data, emphasising that the correlations are statistically significant but relatively weak.
“I don’t know whether it helps us move forward, for example in public debate, by singling out certain groups,” she says.
