ObjectiveResearch on conspiracy theories has mainly focused on psychosocial and sociodemographic factors associated with conspiracy beliefs. Little is known about factors at the nation level that provide a breeding ground for conspiracist thinking. However, an interesting finding emerges from recent international comparisons: people living in countries with a highly corrupt public sector seem to be more likely to endorse conspiracy theories. The present study aims to replicate this finding with new data.MethodsWe investigate the relationship between corruption and conspiracy beliefs across 26 Western and non‐Western countries through multiple linear regression analyses and conditional inference trees. In addition to the corruption level of these countries, our statistical models include other nation‐level factors known to be associated with the prevalence of conspiracy beliefs, namely, their levels of democracy, freedom of the press, social threat (unemployment and homicide rates), economic inequality, and human development (life expectancy, standard of living, and education).ResultsOur analyses confirm a robust link between public sector corruption and conspiracy beliefs that remains significant when controlling for these other factors.ConclusionWe suggest that public sector corruption is fertile ground for conspiracy theories because it makes them less implausible to the public.

中文翻译：

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公共部门腐败是阴谋论的沃土：26 个西方和非西方国家的比较

目的阴谋论的研究主要集中在与阴谋信仰相关的社会心理和社会人口因素上。人们对国家层面为阴谋主义思想提供滋生土壤的因素知之甚少。然而，最近的国际比较得出了一个有趣的发现：生活在公共部门高度腐败的国家的人们似乎更有可能支持阴谋论。本研究旨在用新数据复制这一发现。方法我们通过多元线性回归分析和条件推理树调查 26 个西方和非西方国家的腐败与阴谋信仰之间的关系。除了这些国家的腐败程度之外，我们的统计模型还包括已知与阴谋论盛行相关的其他国家层面的因素，即民主水平、新闻自由、社会威胁（失业率和凶杀率） 、经济不平等和人类发展（预期寿命、生活水平和教育）。结果我们的分析证实了公共部门腐败与阴谋论之间的紧密联系，在控制这些其他因素时这种联系仍然很重要。结论我们认为公共部门腐败是容易滋生的阴谋论的基础，因为它使阴谋论对公众来说不那么难以置信。