“It is plausible that political anxiety could drive people toward conspiracy theories to explain a chaotic political world. It is also possible that political anxiety could have the opposite effect by prompting individuals to seek out higher-quality information to reduce their uncertainty. The researchers designed their inquiry to test which of these psychological pathways is supported by data.
‘There has been a lot of literature in psychology showing that general anxiety is a predictor of support for conspiracy theories,’ said study author Aaron Weinschenk, the Ben J. and Joyce Rosenberg Professor of Political Science and director of Social Sciences & Public Policy Domain at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
‘Recently, there a new measure of anxiety related to politics has been developed, and we wanted to learn whether it was general anxiety or political anxiety (or both) that drives conspiracy theory beliefs. Since many conspiracy theories are connected to politics, we thought it would be interesting to see whether people who are politically anxious are especially likely to support them.’
To investigate these questions, the research team collected data through a university-sponsored survey. The survey was fielded in October 2023. The sample consisted of 451 residents of Wisconsin. The participants were recruited via Dynata, an online survey panel provider. The demographic composition of the sample was compared to U.S. Census estimates to ensure it reasonably reflected the population of the state. The sample was slightly older and more educated than the state average.
The researchers employed specific measures to quantify the different types of anxiety. To measure generalized anxiety, they used the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 (GAD-2) scale. This is a standard psychological tool that asks respondents how often they feel nervous, anxious, or unable to stop worrying.
To measure political anxiety, the team used a specialized ten-item battery developed in recent political science scholarship. This measure asked respondents to rate how much anxiety they felt regarding specific political situations. These situations included the election of a disliked candidate, the level of polarization, and the uncivil nature of modern politics.”
Excerpt source: General anxiety predicts conspiracy beliefs while political anxiety does not, Psy Post by Eric W. Dolan