The effects of crisis concerns on conspiracy beliefs and populist attitudes

This paper examines the impact of crisis concerns on conspiracy beliefs and populist attitudes, both considered facets of anti-establishment attitudes. Recent academic research has highlighted feelings arising from crisis situations like fear, uncertainty, and a sense of loss of control may make people more inclined towards conspiracy beliefs and populist attitudes as both offer simple explanations to more complex problems. However, so far, the concept of crisis has been treated in a uniform manner in the majority of those studies, whether related to Covid-19, the economy, or migration, overlooking the distinct effects that different crises might invoke on individuals. This study aims to refine our understanding of crisis concerns by differentiating and analysing them across five domains, i.e., Covid-19, the climate crisis, the immigration emergency, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the energy crisis, to figure out their distinctive effects on conspiracy beliefs and populist attitudes. Our findings, based on cross-country survey data from seven European countries and the USA, suggest variations in respondents’ perceptions of distinct crises as well as differences in their effects on conspiracy beliefs and populist attitudes. In this way, the paper contributes to the literature by offering a more nuanced analysis of crisis concerns, highlighting the need for tailored analyses to understand crises and their potential impacts on anti-establishment attitudes such as conspiracy beliefs and populism. Keywords: crisis concerns, anti-establishment attitudes, conspiracy beliefs, populist attitudes.