Why do some people believe in political conspiracy theories and others do not? Why, for instance, do 60 per cent of Americans believe that the CIA killed President John F. Kennedy while 25 per cent believe that Barack Obama was born outside of the United States? What factors contribute to some theories becoming popular and others not? To date, the literature has largely focused on the demographic and psychological characteristics that explain individuals' belief in political conspiracy theories.

This paper proposes that an important yet overlooked factor influencing individuals’ perceptions of political conspiracy theories is their exposure to these theories through negative emotive frames. The use of negative emotive language in conspiratorial messaging is noted in the literature. However, a thorough investigation into the effect that emotive language has in the development of conspiratorial beliefs has yet to be undertaken. Thus, an understanding of the presence of these emotions and their impact is lacking.

Through the use of a framing experiment, this paper demonstrates that exposure to a conspiracy increases an individual's likelihood to believe that theory. Further, if this exposure is through a negative emotive frame this relationship is strengthened.