Populist Gullibility: Conspiracy Theories, News Credibility, Bullshit Receptivity, and Paranormal Belief

The present research examines the relationship between populist attitudes—that construe society as a struggle “corrupt elites” versus “noble people”—and beliefs in unsubstantiated epistemic claims. We specifically sought to assess often assumed link conspiracy and attitudes; moreover, we examined if attitudes predict particular, or rather, credulity of claims general. Study 1 revealed that are robustly associated with mentality large multination study, drawing samples from 13 European Union (EU) countries. Studies 2 3 besides beliefs, also increased obscure politically neutral news items (regardless whether they were broadcasted by mainstream alternative sources), receptivity bullshit statements, supernatural beliefs. Furthermore, these findings mediated faith intuition. These studies support notion gullibility: An tendency people who score high on accept true, including nonpolitical ones.