Racial Attitudes and Perceptions of “Whiteness”

Racial hierarchy in the U.S., with its roots in slavery, exists along a Black-to-White spectrum with Blacks positioned at the bottom and Whites at the top (Lopez Reference Lopez2003; White and Wilkinson Reference White and Cutaia Wilkinson2020).Footnote ¹ As the U.S. population diversifies in terms of ethnicity and race, Asian Americans and Latinos are typically located somewhere between Blacks and Whites on this spectrum (Carey and Cisneros Reference Carey and Cisneros2023; Hua and Junn Reference Hua and Junn2021). The blurred line between race and ethnicity contributes to a more fluid understanding of identity for many Latinos (Stokes-Brown Reference Stokes-Brown2012; Twine and Gallagher Reference Twine and Gallagher2014, 14).

This fluidity and in-group diversity translate into significant variation in the opinions that Latinos hold. Abrajano and Michael Alvarez (Reference Abrajano and Alvarez2011, 269) find that while Latinos have dramatically different views than Blacks and Whites on immigration reform and bilingual education, Latino opinion aligns more closely with Blacks than Whites on the invasion of Iraq. Latinos are also more willing to vote for a minority candidate than Whites (Segura and Valenzuela Reference Segura and Valenzuela2010) and hold views on group-based racism and discrimination similar to those of Blacks and other marginalized minorities in the U.S. (Vicuña et al., Reference Vicuña, Cass, Chua, Yi Celine Tsoi and Pérez2022). At the same time, the views of Latinos resemble those of Whites more than those of Blacks on a variety of issues, including racial prejudice (Krupnikov and Piston Reference Krupnikov and Piston2016), health care (Lanford, Block, and Tope Reference Lanford, Block and Tope2018), and unemployment (Abrajano and Michael Alvarez Reference Abrajano and Alvarez2011, 278). The identity that Latinos prioritize is associated with the opinions they hold (Hickel et al. Reference Hickel, Alamillo, Oskooii and Collingwood2020). Many Latinos strategically adopt opinions and policy stances that align with those of White Americans to distinguish themselves from other lower-status groups and side with more powerful groups in American society (Alamillo Reference Alamillo2019, 458-9; Cadena Jr Reference Cadena2023; Pérez, Robertson, and Vicuña Reference Pérez, Robertson and Vicuña2023).

There is also significant variation in how Latinos experience and perceive racism and discrimination (Pedraza Reference Pedraza2014). More than 50% of Latinos state that they have experienced discrimination or received unfair treatment because of their race/ethnicity (Krogstad and Lopez, Reference Krogstad and López2016). These perceptions shape patterns in their political participation (Sanchez Reference Sanchez2008; Schildkraut Reference Schildkraut2005; Valdez Reference Valdez2011). Skin color, experiences with discrimination, and the self-identified race of Latinos—all of which vary significantly within this group—influence Latinos’ amenability to racial thinking (Golash-Boza and Darity Reference Golash-Boza and Darity2008; Gonzalez-Barrera Reference Gonzalez-Barrera2022; Ostfeld and Yadon, Reference Ostfeld and Yadon2022).

One of our core theoretical insights is that the views Latinos hold related to Whiteness and power will influence their support for conspiratorial statements. White supremacy is a foundational component of the fabric of America (Yacovone Reference Yacovone2022). The notion of “White privilege” involves practices and norms providing systematic advantages to Whites by the virtue of their racial classification and skin color (McIntosh Reference McIntosh1998). White privilege is distinct from racial resentment, which measures agreement with the idea that Blacks are responsible for their own disadvantage (Kinder and Sanders Reference Kinder and Sanders1996) and emerges as an independent predictor of different positions on salient issues (Dobbs and Nicholson Reference Abeyta, Routledge, Roylance, Wildschut and Sedikides2024). While White perceptions of their victimization and privilege have been the focus of most research (Filindra, Kaplan, and Manning Reference Filindra, Kaplan and Manning2024; Quarles and Bozarth Reference Quarles and Bozarth2022), such perceptions among minorities are also relevant for making sense of their political attitudes.

It is a well-established pattern that the group-based perceptions that Latinos hold about their ethno-racial group affect various forms of political behavior (Hickel et al. Reference Hickel, Alamillo, Oskooii and Collingwood2020; Basler Reference Basler2008; Filindra and Kolbe Reference Filindra and Kolbe2022; Lopez, Michael Alvarez, and Silvia Kim Reference Lopez, Michael Alvarez and Silvia Kim2022; Ocampo, Garcia-Rios, and Gutierrez Reference Ocampo, Garcia-Rios and Gutierrez2021). Building on this research, we suggest that Latino perceptions of White privilege and ethno-racial discrimination in the US are also crucial for understanding their views on conspiracy theories. Given the relatively limited research on racial attitudes and conspiracy beliefs among Latinos, we remain agnostic about the direction of this relationship. On the one hand, Latinos who do not associate Whiteness with privilege and do not believe that Latinos experience widespread discrimination are likely to feel less marginalized and perceive greater opportunities for social mobility. Consequently, they may be less receptive to conspiracy theories, which are often linked to feelings of deprivation and the perception that the system is rigged (Crocker et al. Reference Crocker, Luhtanen, Broadnax and Evan Blaine1999; van Prooijen and Douglas Reference van Prooijen and Douglas2018). On the other hand, Latinos who dismiss the idea that race shapes life opportunities and their ethnic group faces discrimination may be more inclined to harbor conservative views, which are often associated with conspiratorial thinking and conspiracy theories (Hofstadter Reference Hofstadter1964; van der Linden et al. Reference van der Linden, Panagopoulos, Azevedo and Jost2021; but also see Enders et al. Reference Enders, Farhart, Miller, Uscinski, Saunders and Drochon2023). For instance, conspiracy theories typically associated with right-wing politics, such as global warming denial and beliefs in deliberately hidden harms of vaccines, may hold greater appeal among Latinos who deny the existence of White privilege and ethno-racial discrimination. Based on this discussion, our first hypothesis, which is exploratory, is:

Data and Research Design

Our sample is composed of 1,103 self-identifying Hispanic/Latina/Latine/Latino/Latinx adults in the US.Footnote ⁴ The survey was fielded by Qualtrics in September 2022; Qualtrics was also responsible for compensation of respondents. The external validity of our findings is limited since the selection of the sample is not based on a randomized procedure. The survey employs quota sampling based on age, gender, education, region, and bilingualism and is representative of self-identified English-speaking Latinos who are 18 and older in the U.S.Footnote ⁵ The survey, which has an assumed incidence rate of 61 percent, took 15 minutes or less to complete. Table A1 in the Appendix summarizes the composition of our sample along with gender, age, education, region, and bilingualism.Footnote ⁶

Our definition of conspiracy theories involves statements that purport to explain historical, ongoing, or future events as the result of secret plots or actions of powerful entities with malicious goals (Douglas et al. Reference Douglas, Uscinski, Sutton, Cichocka, Nefes, Siang Ang and Deravi2019; Keeley Reference Keeley1999; Uscinski Reference Uscinski2018). Different from approaches in existing research that examine measures that focus on wrongdoing or negligence by the U.S. government (scandals, corruption, etc.), we utilize measures that clearly capture the secret plots or actions of powerful entities perceived to work against the public interest.Footnote ⁷ To our knowledge, this study presents the first nationally representative sample of English-speaking Latino responses to deliberately articulated conspiratorial statements.Footnote ⁸

We utilize six conspiratorial statements that are widespread and frequently used in scholarly studies: (1) “The U.S. government is covering up the existence of UFOs and is secretly experimenting with alien technology (UFOs).” (2) “The idea of human-made global warming is a fabrication that intends to mislead people (Global warming).” (3) “The truth about the harmful effects of vaccines is being hidden from the public by a group of actors to advance their personal agenda (Vaccines).” (4) “Most politicians in Latin America are on the payroll of powerful interest groups based in the United States (Payroll).” (5) “Regardless of who is officially in charge of governments and other organizations, there is a single group of people who secretly control events and rule the world together pursuing their own malicious interests (Global Cabal).” and (6) “The U.S. government is penetrated by a criminal group of powerful and wealthy individuals that engage in child trafficking and other forms of child abuse (Government Child Trafficking).”Footnote ⁹ Response options for each statement range from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). Table A2 in the Appendix provides summary statistics for key variables. While these items are commonly used in conspiracy theory research, it should be also noted that their wording, which does not specifically mention a counterargument, may result in artificially high indicators of support for conspiracy beliefs.

These six items have a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.75, indicating acceptable internal consistency. Table A5 in the Appendix presents a principal component factor analysis. All these six items exhibit high factor loadings on Factor 1, which captures 46 percent of the total variance. Using these six items, we create an index variable. In the main text, we also focus on three conspiratorial statements that are particularly politically salient and directly relevant to sociopolitical behavior: Global warming, Vaccines, and Government Child Trafficking. We highlight these three items for two reasons. First, conspiracies surrounding Global Warming and Vaccines are tied to specific policy issues with profound implications. Global warming denial undermines efforts to combat climate change, while vaccine skepticism complicates public health initiatives to prevent outbreaks of contagious diseases. Similarly, beliefs in government officials engaging in illegal activities erode public distrust in the national government, with pernicious effects on democratic governance. Second, focusing on these three items allows us to maintain parsimony while demonstrating how some of the correlates of individual conspiracy statements may differ. For completeness, we present models using the three other items, UFOs, Payroll, and Global Cabal, as dependent variables in Table A7 in the Appendix. These results provide a broader picture of how different conspiracy beliefs relate to the predictors in our analysis while keeping the main text streamlined.

To illustrate variations in support for conspiratorial statements based on race/ethnicity, Figure 1 shows the percentages of Blacks, Latinos, and Whites who agree or disagree with five prevalent conspiracy theories.Footnote ¹⁰ Among all groups, the greatest support is for the allegation that the U.S. government is hiding the existence of UFOs and the claim that a single group secretly controls the world. In comparison, the lowest support is for the allegation that global warming is a fabrication intended to mislead the public. Consistent with findings in the previous literature (Davis et al. Reference Davis, Wetherell and Henry2018; Goertzel Reference Goertzel1994; Thorburn and Bogart Reference Thorburn and Bogart2005), Blacks and Latinos show greater receptiveness than Whites to several conspiracy theories, including UFOs, the Global Cabal, and Government Child Trafficking. A higher percentage of Whites disagree with each of the five conspiratorial statements compared to Blacks and Latinos. At the same time, there is a notable polarization among Whites regarding the Global Warming conspiracy. While more than 50 percent of Whites disagree with that conspiracy statement, a significant minority of 30 percent express support for it, a pattern that is also noticeable regarding the claim that vaccines have undisclosed harmful effects. However, there is significant polarization among Whites concerning the global warming conspiracy: while over 50 percent of Whites disagree with the statement, a substantial minority—30 percent—express support. A similar pattern is evident with the claim that vaccines have undisclosed harmful effects, where a notable segment of Whites also shows support.

Figure 1.

Belief in Various Conspiracy Statements among Blacks, Latinos, and Whites (in %). Note: The figure shows percentages of respondents who agree or disagree with each conspiracy statement. For Latinos (n = 1,103), the data comes from a survey conducted by Qualtrics in September 2022. There were five categories: “strongly agree,” “somewhat agree,” “neither disagree nor agree,” “strongly disagree,” and “somewhat disagree.” For Blacks (n = 696) and Whites (n = 1,018), the data comes from a survey conducted by Qualtrics in June 2023 with seven categories of “strongly agree,” “somewhat agree,” “agree,” “neither disagree nor agree,” “disagree,” “somewhat disagree,” and “strongly disagree.” In each group, respondents who chose the “neither disagree nor agree” option are not shown. We do not include the statement on Latin American politicians being on the payroll of powerful interest groups in the U.S. since it is not asked in the survey with Black and White samples.

We develop a series of independent variables to test our hypotheses. Regarding Hypothesis 1 about perceptions of disadvantages and advantages related to race, we first introduce an index variable about White Privilege Acknowledgement (WPA) following Dobbs and Nicholson (Reference Abeyta, Routledge, Roylance, Wildschut and Sedikides2024) who put forth a three-item index of White Privilege denial. Their assessment reveals that the index has unique effects that are distinct from theoretically similar concepts, such as racial resentment, on the policy opinions of Whites.Footnote ¹¹ In alignment with their approach, our WPA index variable is comprised of three items that ask participants their agreement with (a) White people in the U.S. have certain advantages because of the color of their skin, (b) the lighter your skin color, the less prejudice and discrimination you experience, and (c) White cultural characteristics are more valued than those of people of color on a 1–5-scale. This index exhibits high internal consistency with a Cronbach’s alpha score of 0.83. Next, we employ a commonly applied measure about Latino group-based discrimination and ask respondents how much discrimination they think Hispanics/Latinos/Latinas face discrimination with possible response options of “a lot” (1) to “none at all” (4) (Hispanics not discriminated against). Table A3 in the Appendix provides more details on each survey item.

Our independent variable for Hypothesis 2 is Generational Status. This variable ranges from Latinos who were not born in the U.S. and whose parents are also foreign-born (1), Latinos who were born in the U.S. but whose parents were born outside of the U.S. (2), Latinos who were born in the U.S. and have one U.S.-born parent (3), and Latinos who were born in the U.S. and both of their parents born in the U.S. (4).

We use a dichotomous independent variable to measure our Hypothesis 3 about Spanish media consumption. The Spanish News media consumption variable asks respondents “When you get your news from media sources or social network sites, is it in English, Spanish, or both?” Possible response options are “English,” “Spanish,” “or both.” We created a binary variable that combines the “Spanish” and “both” categories; our final news media consumption variable is coded “0” for respondents who get their news in English and “1” for respondents who get their news in Spanish or bilingual media.Footnote ¹²

Given the multidimensional nature of religiosity, we use three independent variables to measure this concept in our test of Hypothesis 4. Religious attendance measures how often the respondent attends religious services (not including weddings or funerals) and is measured on a 6-point scale ranging from “never” (1) to “more than once a week” (6). Supernatural belief is a combination of two variables: whether the respondent thinks that there is a heaven and hell and whether the respondent thinks that what happens in life is decided by a “higher force” such as God, fate, or destiny; both variables range from “strongly disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (5). Importance of religion measures self-described importance of religion in one’s life. This variable ranges from “not at all important” (1) to “very important” (4).

We also include a series of control variables about gender, age, education, income, political attitudes, and trust in institutions. Previous research identifies these variables as being relevant to understanding support for conspiracy theories. Gender is coded as a dichotomous variable (0 = woman or other, 1 = man). Age is measured as a continuous variable, with the participants ranging from 18 to 87 years old. Education is measured on a 1-7 scale where 1 represents “high school incomplete or less” and 7 represents “postgraduate or professional degree.” Income is measured on an 8-point scale, from “less than $30,000” to “$90,000 or more,” increasing by $10,000 for each unit.

We measure our political attitudes using three variables: party ID, political efficacy, and political ideology. To measure party ID, we include two binary variables: (1) Democratic (coded “1” for self-identified Democrats and “0” for other identifications) and (1) Independent/other (coded “1” for people who identify as Independent, “Other,” or “Not sure” and “0” for self-identified Democrats and Republicans).Footnote ¹³ Political efficacy is measured on a 1-5 scale and asks the participant how much they feel that their political participation influences election outcomes, with response options ranging from “not at all” (1) to “a great deal” (5). We use a scale that ranges from “very liberal” (0) to “very conservative” (10) to measure political ideology. Accounting for political ideology is important as respondents who self-identify as conservatives may be more likely to express support for the conspiratorial statements that we study separately from the index (i.e., Global warming, Vaccines, and Government Child Trafficking). Lastly, lower levels of political efficacy, which indicate lack of control about decisions affecting collective well-being, are likely to be associated with higher levels of belief in conspiracy theories.

Interpersonal distrust is measured as a binary variable, where respondents are asked whether they believe “most people can be trusted” (1) or if “you cannot be too careful in dealing with other people” (2). Trust in institutions is measured as an index variable with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.85, based on seven items assessing participants’ trust in the federal government in Washington D.C., their respective state government, mass media (e.g., CNN, Fox News), social media networks, local media, the local police department, and the government in their or their parents’ country of origin. Answer choices are recorded on a 1–5 scale ranging from “none” (1) to “great deal” (5). Following conventional expectations, we anticipate that higher levels of distrust will be associated with greater belief in conspiracy theories.

Findings

We run four different models where the dependent variables are (1) the conspiracy belief index, (2) belief that global warming is a fabrication, (3) belief that vaccines have hidden harmful effects, and (4) belief in government child trafficking. Table 1 shows the standardized coefficients and robust standard errors, while Figure 2 visualizes the estimates and their confidence intervals of each variable. As indicated above, the variables WPA and Hispanics were not Discriminated test Hypotheses 1. Both variables significantly predict belief in the global warming conspiracy, with respondents who deny the existence of White privilege and discrimination against Latinos showing a higher likelihood of endorsing this conspiratorial statement. These variables are not significant in the other three models. These findings provide partial support to the theoretical expectation that Latino perspectives on discrimination and racial hierarchies are relevant in making sense of why they may embrace conspiracy theories. While this study cannot fully disentangle the mechanisms behind this relationship, we suggest that the findings may be attributed to conservative values. Since global warming conspiracies are often associated with the political right, it is consistent that this conspiracy theory would resonate more among Latinos who reject the existence of White privilege and racial or ethnic discrimination.

Table 1.

Correlates of conspiracy theory beliefs among Latinos

The table reports standardized coefficients and robust standard errors in parentheses. All models are weighted to match national demographics of Hispanics on gender, age, region, and education (Unweighted models presented in Table A6 in the Appendix). *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05, * p < 0.1.

Figure 2.

Coefficient plots and confidence intervals.

Hypothesis 2 receives mostly strong empirical support. Respondents who were born in the U.S. to U.S.-born parents (fourth generation) are more likely to express support for the general conspiracy index as well as conspiratorial statements on vaccines and the government engaging in child trafficking compared to respondents who were not born in the U.S. and whose parents are foreign-born. (first generation). Moreover, both the second and third generation of Latinos are more likely to endorse the Child Trafficking conspiracy than the first generation. At the same time, the generational differences do not matter in understanding the variation among Latinos regarding their stance on global warming.

One of the most consistent findings in our models concerns Hypothesis 3, the relationship between Spanish media consumption and beliefs in conspiracy theory. Respondents who get their news from bilingual or Spanish media outlets tend to score higher in the conspiracy beliefs index, aligning with Cortina and Rottinghaus (Reference Cortina and Rottinghaus2022) who study Latinos of Texas. Similarly, these individuals are also more likely to believe that the government engages in child trafficking and think that vaccines have hidden harmful effects. The only exception concerns the global warming model where the Spanish media variable lacks significance. As discussed above, this variable may capture the life experiences of Spanish speakers who face higher levels of discrimination, disparities in life quality, and lack of political power and are more receptive to conspiracy theories of various sorts. They may also be more exposed to more intense forms of conspiracy theories in Spanish news outlets.

Our Hypothesis 4, informed by the broader literature on conspiracy theories, focuses on the effects of religiosity. Neither religious attendance nor importance of religious variables seem to play a role in shaping conspiracy theory beliefs among Latinos except for the importance of religion variable being significantly associated with Latino vaccine-related beliefs. Most consistently, belief in hell and heaven and belief in the existence of a higher force, supernatural beliefs, are significantly and positively associated with the dependent variable. Table 2 summarizes measures of key concepts, our hypotheses, and main findings.

Table 2.

A summary of theoretical expectations and empirical findings

Table A7 and Figure A2 in the Appendix show the results from the models with three other conspiracy statements. Consistent with the findings above, Latinos with supernatural beliefs have a higher propensity to believe that the government covers up the existence of UFOs, Latin American politicians are on the payroll of U.S. actors, and the world is ruled by a secret cabal. Moreover, Spanish news consumption continues to be a significant predictor in the models with Global Cabal and Latin American politicians as the dependent variables. Besides, newer generations of Latinos express greater support for the Global Cabal conspiracy theory. In comparison, these additional models do not provide empirical support for Hypothesis 1.

Returning to the models above, several additional patterns are worth noting. The age variable has a consistently negative, and statistically significant coefficient across all models, suggesting that younger Latinos are more likely than older Latinos to support conspiratorial statements—a finding that aligns with Cortina and Rottinghaus (Reference Cortina and Rottinghaus2022). We also suspect that higher levels of social media usage among younger individuals contribute to these beliefs. Future research could explore the mechanisms underlying this trend, specifically examining the relationship between social media usage and belief in conspiracy theories among younger Hispanics.

As expected, Latinos who self-identify at the liberal end of the political spectrum tend to be less likely to express support for conspiracy theories. The only exception is that conservative political views are not significantly associated with the belief that vaccines have hidden harmful effects, a finding similar to the assessment that partisanship and ideological orientation predict support for “birther” beliefs (Enders et al. Reference Enders, Smallpage and Lupton2020). Furthermore, respondents who self-identify as Democrats are less likely to exhibit conspiratorial beliefs overall, and believe that global warming is a fabrication and vaccines harm people compared to Latino respondents who self-identify as Republicans. There could be two different explanations for these general patterns. First, it may be the case that supporters of an opposition party are more likely to endorse conspiracy theories. If that is the case, a change in political power may result in changing the relationship between partisan identity and conspiracy beliefs. Alternatively, conservative Hispanics who vote for the Republican Party, where conspiracy theories are often circulated at the elite level, may have a greater propensity for believing in conspiracy theories. At the same time, partisanship is a predictor of belief in several conspiracy theories including government child trafficking, UFOs, and corrupt Latin American Politicians. Overall, while partisan affiliation is significant in shaping support for some conspiracy theories, our findings support studies that suggest variation in the explanatory power of partisanship for support for conspiracy theories (Edelson et al. Reference Edelson, Alduncin, Krewson, Sieja and Uscinski2017; Enders et al. Reference Enders, Uscinski, Klofstad, Premaratne, Seelig, Wuchty, Murthi and Funchion2021). Furthermore, we find very limited evidence that political efficacy is associated with skepticism towards conspiracy theories. The only statistically significant effect of this variable suggests that respondents who have higher levels of self-reported political efficacy are less likely to believe in the argument that vaccines have harmful effects.

Our models do not identify a robust and consistent relationship between interpersonal trust and belief in conspiracy theories. At the same time, respondents indicating greater levels of trust in institutions exhibit lower scores in the conspiracy beliefs index and all six conspiratorial statements with the exception of global warming. Income does not emerge as a significant predictor in any of the models. Educated Latinos, in general, exhibit lower levels of conspiracy beliefs, though the coefficient of the education variable is only significant at the p < 0.05 level in the vaccines model.Footnote ¹⁴ Lastly, while gender remains insignificant in the other models, Latinas are more likely than Latinos to believe in the government engaging in child trafficking.