Please reduce the gap! How psychological distance to politics fuels belief in conspiracy theories

Abstract This research examines the impact of psychological distance to politics on the formation of conspiracy beliefs. Psychological distance to politics, defined as the perceived separation or detachment from political processes, can lead individuals to view political events and actors with suspicion. Through two cross‐sectional studies, with nationally representative samples (Study 1: United States, N = 431; Study 2: United States, N = 300), we find that greater psychological distance to politics predicts belief in specific conspiracy theories and conspiracy mentality. In Study 3 (United States, N = 302, pre‐registered), we demonstrate that reducing the sense of psychological distance to politics in participants significantly decreases their likelihood of subscribing to conspiratorial explanations. These findings highlight the importance of psychological distance to politics as a predictor of conspiracy beliefs.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  British Journal of Social Psychology

• Publication date

  2025-11-09

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Political Science, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1111/bjso.70019PMID 41208296PMCID 12598269
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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