10.7910/DVN/CHDGRF Albertson, Bethany Bethany Albertson UT Austin Guiler, Kim Kim Guiler UT Austin Harvard Dataverse 2020 Social Sciences conspiracy theories; emotions; democratic norms Albertson, Bethany Bethany Albertson UT Austin 2020-08-06 2020-08-07 10.7910/DVN/CHDGRF/NNZSX9 10.7910/DVN/CHDGRF/RTO6U1 9845 305700 application/x-stata-syntax text/tab-separated-values 1.0 Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Under what conditions does conspiratorial rhetoric about election rigging change attitudes? We investigate this question using a survey experiment the day before and the morning of the 2016 US Presidential Election. We hypothesize that exposure to conspiratorial rhetoric about election interference significantly heightens negative emotions (anxiety, anger) and undermines support for democratic institutions. Specifically, we expect that Democrats who read conspiratorial information about interference by the Russians in US elections and that Republicans who read conspiratorial information about interference by the Democratic Party in US elections will express less support for key democratic norms. Our evidence largely supports our hypotheses. Americans exposed to a story claiming the election will be tampered with will express less confidence in democratic institutions, and these effects are moderated by prior partisan beliefs about the actors most likely responsible for election meddling.