The mediating effect of institutional trust in the relationship between precarity and conspiracy beliefs: A conceptual replication of Adam‐Troian et al. (2023)

• Published in: British journal of social psychology 2024-07, Vol.63 (3), p.1207-1225
• Main Authors: Adamus, Magdalena, Ballová Mikušková, Eva, Kačmár, Pavol, Guzi, Martin, Adamkovič, Matuš, Chayinska, Maria, Adam‐Troian, Jais
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Beliefs; Conditioning; Conspiracy; conspiracy beliefs; Economic hardship; Female; Humans; Inequality; Insecurity; institutional trust; Male; Meta-analysis; Middle Aged; mini meta‐analysis; Panel data; Poverty; precarity; registered replication; Reproducibility; Social psychology; Socioeconomic Factors; Trust; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0144-6665; 2044-8309; 2044-8309
• DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12725

The paper reports the results of registered conceptual replications of the indirect effect of institutional trust in the relationship between precarity and the endorsement of conspiracy beliefs (CB). The original study of Adam‐Troian et al. (2023; British Journal of Social Psychology, 62(S1), 136‐159) indicated that subjective appraisals of economic hardship are associated with lower trust in governments and institutions, which in turn is associated with stronger endorsement of CB. Our Studies 1 to 3 report a series of replications using Slovak panel data. Study 4 reports a replication of the mediation model using data from the European Social Survey Round 10 collected in 17 countries. To provide a quantitative synthesis of these and previous results, we conducted mini meta‐analysis (N = 50,340). Although the strength of the observed relationships differed across the studies to some degree, the original patterns of relations remained robust, supporting the original model. The study corroborates the view that to curb the spread of CB, it is necessary to address structural issues, such as growing financial insecurity, socioeconomic inequalities, and the deficit of institutional trust. Finally, we discuss the role of cultural and political settings in conditioning the mechanisms through which precarity enhances the endorsement of CB.