Feeling vs Thinking: Stout Student’s Conspiratorial Attitudes and Trust in Government

Abstract

The belief in and scope of conspiracy theories has been growing in The United States over the past century. Current popular conspiracy theories include the government's covert role in tragedies like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Conspiracy theories encourage extremist beliefs and antidemocratic behavior and discourage believers from participating in democratic processes. It has been demonstrated that false information spreads farther and faster that true information on social media. This misinformation can weaken a citizen's trust in their government but more insidiously has been seen to weaken citizens' trust in one another.