Shouts and Whispers: The Gamson Hypothesis, Media Reliance, and Belief in 2020 Election Conspiracy Theories
This study, based on reliance on various types of media as well as the Gamson Hypothesis, investigates why people doggedly hang on to election fraud theories from the 2020 election. The results show that reliance on mainstream media and CNN negatively predicts belief in election conspiracy theories. In contrast, reliance on Fox News, hyperpartisan websites, conservative media, and text-based and video-based social media, positively predict belief in election conspiracy theories. Also, the Gamson Hypothesis positively moderates the relationship between reliance on Fox News, conservative media and video social media and belief in election conspiracy theories.
Authors
- Thomas Johnson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1702-0943)
- Chang Sup Park (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5626-0758)
- Barbara K. Kaye (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3287-8227)
Institutions
- Florida State University (US)
- University of Washington (US)
- Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma (US)
- Seattle University (US)
- University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- University of Oklahoma (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
- Published
- 2025-08-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990251360688
- Primary Topic
- Misinformation and Its Impacts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00