People differ in their general tendency to endorse conspiracy theories (that is, conspiracy mentality). Previous research yielded inconsistent findings on the relationship between conspiracy mentality and political orientation, showing a greater conspiracy mentality either among the political right (a linear relation) or amongst both the left and right extremes (a curvilinear relation). We revisited this relationship across two studies spanning 26 countries (combined N = 104,253) and found overall evidence for both linear and quadratic relations, albeit small and heterogeneous across countries. We also observed stronger support for conspiracy mentality among voters of opposition parties (that is, those deprived of political control). Nonetheless, the quadratic effect of political orientation remained significant when adjusting for political control deprivation. We conclude that conspiracy mentality is associated with extreme left- and especially extreme right-wing beliefs, and that this non-linear relation may be strengthened by, but is not reducible to, deprivation of political control.

Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge UK

Czech Academy of Sciences Brno Czech Republic

ELTE Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Hungary

Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities Skopje North Macedonia

Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya Israel

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Mainz Germany

Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts Skopje North Macedonia

Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim Norway

Perdana University Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Research Institute Kieskompas Amsterdam the Netherlands

Sapienza University of Rome Rome Italy

Singidunum University Belgrade Serbia

Universidad de Huelva Huelva Spain

Universidade Católica Portuguesa CIEP Lisbon Portugal

Universidade de Brasília Brasília Brazil

Université de Fribourg Fribourg Switzerland

Université de Rennes Rennes France

Université libre de Bruxelles Brussels Belgium

University of Banja Luka Banja Luka Bosnia and Herzegovina

University of Belgrade Belgrade Serbia

University of Bern Bern Switzerland

University of Bucharest Bucharest Romania

University of Iceland Reykjavík Iceland

University of Kent Canterbury UK

University of Milano Bicocca Milan Italy

University of Neuchâtel Neuchâtel Switzerland

University of Oxford Oxford UK

University of Warsaw Warsaw Poland

University of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia

University Ss Cyril and Methodius Skopje North Macedonia

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam the Netherlands

West University of Timisoara Timisoara Romania

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