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Conspiracy Theories and Politics in Slovakia: How Conspiracy Thinking Relates to Political Opinions and Preferences
Kondrótová, Katarína ; Střítecký, Vít (advisor) ; Ditrych, Ondřej (referee)
Conspiracy Theories and Politics in Slovakia: How Conspiracy Thinking Relates to Political Opinions and Preferences Katarína Kondrótová Abstract (English) Conspiracy theories have become a fashionable buzzword, appearing across the internet, the media, and political speeches with great frequency. However, there are many misconceptions associated with them, making them more divisive and mysterious than they need to be. The present contribution seeks to remedy that by providing a deep dive into conspiracy theories. It examines the multitude of their possible definitions and conceptualizations, their existence across history, as well as past research findings about why they appeal to us. In the second half, conspiracy theories are presented through new research regarding their relation to political and ideological preferences of Slovaks. The findings are in line with past studies, showing a relationship between stronger conspiracy beliefs and extremist thinking, preference of authoritarian policies, and low faith in authorities. A regression analysis also uncovered a strong correlation between conspiracy beliefs and the political party the respondents had voted for, as well as their preference of the politics and ideologies of 'the West' (EU, USA) or 'the East' (Russian federation).
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