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Replication Data for: An inflated view of the facts? How preferences and predispositions shape conspiracy beliefs about the Deflategate scandal

Harvard Dataverse (Africa Rice Center, Bioversity International, CCAFS, CIAT, IFPRI, IRRI and WorldFish)

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Title Replication Data for: An inflated view of the facts? How preferences and predispositions shape conspiracy beliefs about the Deflategate scandal
 
Identifier https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/9D2NAC
 
Creator Nyhan, Brendan
 
Publisher Harvard Dataverse
 
Description

Data in CSV format; replication code in Stata 14 format.

Authors:

John M. Carey, Dartmouth College

Brendan Nyhan, Dartmouth College

Benjamin Valentino, Dartmouth College

Mingnan Liu, SurveyMonkey

Abstract:

Beliefs in conspiracy theories about controversial issues are often strongly influenced by people’s existing beliefs and attitudes. We leverage a prominent football-related controversy – the NFL's “Deflategate” scandal – to investigate how factual perceptions and conspiracy beliefs vary by fan loyalties to sports teams. Using an original survey sample, we explore two key drivers of conspiratorial beliefs about the scandal. First, we analyze how beliefs about Deflategate vary by respondents’ loyalties towards the New England Patriots. We find that beliefs are not only highly polarized by team loyalty but that the gaps are largest among more interested and knowledgeable fans, suggesting that individuals are processing the information they receive in a highly motivated fashion. Second, we find that individuals who endorse unrelated political conspiracy theories are also more likely to endorse two key conspiratorial claims about Deflategate. However, priming group solidarity and elite resentment – two possible motivations for the prevalence of conspiracy theories around controversial issues like Deflategate – does not have a significant effect.

 
Subject Social Sciences
 
Contributor Nyhan, Brendan