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<p>Elections produce winners and losers. Winners reap the benefits; losers have to dust themselves off. How each side chooses to respond has important implications for democratic stability. Winners may attempt to develop post-election narratives in such a way as to claim a mandate and consolidate power. But losers are even more likely to be motivated to search for an explanation—a narrative that not only explains the loss in a self-esteem preserving way but also provides guidance for how to engage (or not) in the future to avoid subsequent losses. Building on extant research on the winner-loser gap in political attitudes, we theorize that electoral losers will be more conspiratorial (as assessed by a general measure of conspiracism) after the election than before the election. We report the results of five nationally representative pre/post-election panel surveys spanning three election years in the U.S. (2016, 2018, 2020) that provide strong and consistent support for the “losers’ conspiracism” hypothesis and discuss the implications of our findings.</p>

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Losers’ Conspiracy: Elections and Conspiracism

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2025年7月28日

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  • Joanne M. Miller,
  • Christina E. Farhart,
  • Kyle L. Saunders

摘要

Elections produce winners and losers. Winners reap the benefits; losers have to dust themselves off. How each side chooses to respond has important implications for democratic stability. Winners may attempt to develop post-election narratives in such a way as to claim a mandate and consolidate power. But losers are even more likely to be motivated to search for an explanation—a narrative that not only explains the loss in a self-esteem preserving way but also provides guidance for how to engage (or not) in the future to avoid subsequent losses. Building on extant research on the winner-loser gap in political attitudes, we theorize that electoral losers will be more conspiratorial (as assessed by a general measure of conspiracism) after the election than before the election. We report the results of five nationally representative pre/post-election panel surveys spanning three election years in the U.S. (2016, 2018, 2020) that provide strong and consistent support for the “losers’ conspiracism” hypothesis and discuss the implications of our findings.