ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to explore understanding of the psychological and political roots of conspiracy theories by examining how belief in such theories is related with populism. It illustrates what populism is by defining the term and identifying its underlying psychological dimensions. The chapter examines how each of these dimensions predicts belief in conspiracy theories. It shows that populism is a key political mentality underlying conspiracy theories. The chapter describes some related but distinct factors that together provide a parsimonious model to predict whether citizens will support populist movements. It explores the relationship between populism and belief in conspiracy theories. The research literature supports such a link not only through findings that radical political ideologies in general predict belief in conspiracy theories but also through findings that more specifically address the underlying dimensions of populism. Popular media frequently portray “populism” within the same breath as “right-wing,” and, indeed, populism predominantly occurs among right-wing political movements in, for instance, the United States.
