The impact of social desirability bias on conspiracy belief measurement across cultures

Uscinski, Joseph E.; Smallpage, Steven M; Enders, Adam M; Drochon, Hugo

Abstract

Polls asking respondents about their beliefs in conspiracy theories have become increasingly commonplace. However, researchers have expressed concern about the willingness of respondents to divulge beliefs in conspiracy theories due to the stigmatization of those ideas. We use an experimental design similar to a list experiment to decipher the effect of social desirability bias on survey responses to eight conspiratorial statements. Our study includes 8290 respondents across seven countries, allowing for the examination of social desirability bias across various political and cultural contexts. While the proportion of individuals expressing belief in each statement varies across countries, we observe identical treatment effects: respondents systematically underreport conspiracy beliefs. These findings suggest that conspiracy beliefs may be more prominent than current estimates suggest.

Citation

Uscinski, J. E., Smallpage, S. M., Enders, A. M., & Drochon, H. (2022). The impact of social desirability bias on conspiracy belief measurement across cultures. Political Science Research and Methods, 11(3), 555-569. https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2022.1

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 20, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Mar 2, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022-07
• Deposit Date: Jan 4, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 4, 2022
• Journal: Political Science Research and Methods
• Print ISSN: 2049-8470
• Electronic ISSN: 2049-8489
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 555-569
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2022.1
• Keywords: Political Science and International Relations; Sociology and Political Science
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7163463
• Publisher URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/political-science-research-and-methods/article/impact-of-social-desirability-bias-on-conspiracy-belief-measurement-across-cultures/432984732330A92411B054F17ED47928
• Additional Information: This article has been published in a revised form in Political Science Research and Methods https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2022.1. This version is published under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND. No commercial re-distribution or re-use allowed. Derivative works cannot be distributed. © The Author(s)."