More than 48% of Romanians believe that many very important things happen in the world, about which ordinary people are never informed, or that, usually, politicians do not say the true reasons behind their decisions, according to a survey carried out by INSCOP. At the same time, more than 70% of Romanians declare that they are faced with news and information that they believe distort reality or are false, says the company’s director, who draws attention to the fact that public discourse with conspiratorial overtones is massively fueled in the public space.
Director INSCOP: Belief in various conspiracy theories is quite widespread Photo: Archive
Asked how often it happens to them, in general, to come across news or information that they think distorts reality or is even false, 19% of respondents say it happens to them rarely or never, 17.9% several times a month, 17.7% at least once a week, 26.1% every day or almost every day, and 11% several times a day. 7.7% of those surveyed say they cannot appreciate, and 0.6% do not answer.
According to INSCOP, they declare that they rarely or never come across news or information that they think distorts reality or is even false, especially: PSD and PNL voters, people with primary education, inactive potentially active, blue-collar workers, residents from the small urban or rural.
People aged between 30 and 44, those with higher education, gray or white collar workers, residents of Bucharest and private employees are the categories that most often declare that it happens to them several times a month to come across news or information about which I think distort reality or which are even false especially:
They say that at least once a week they come across news or information that they think distorts reality or is even false, especially: USR voters, young people under 30, people aged between 30 and 44, those with higher education, gray or white collar workers, urban dwellers, state employees.
AUR voters, people over 60, residents of small towns and the West region are the categories that most often declare that every day or almost every day they come across news or information that they think distorts reality or that are even fake.
Willingness to believe in conspiracies
I agree with the statement: “There are many very important things happening in the world that ordinary people are never informed about”
On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 represents “Total Disagree” and 7 “Total Agreement”, 14.2% of respondents indicate 1 (“Total Disagree”) to express their opinion regarding the statement “In the world it happens many very important things, about which ordinary people are never informed.” 2.4% choose 2, 5.8% – 3, 7.9% – 4, 12.8% – 5, and 8.4% – 6. 48.6% of those interviewed indicate 7 “Total agreement”.
I totally agree with the given statement in particular: AUR voters, people between 30 and 59 years old, people with medium education, blue or gray collars, private employees.
I agree: “Politicians usually don’t tell us the real reasons behind their decisions”
Ask to what extent you agree with the statement “Politicians usually don’t tell us the real reasons behind their decisions”, 16.9% of respondents choose 1 (“Strongly disagree”), 4.3% choose 2, 5.8% -3, 5.7% – 4, 11.2% -5, 8% – 6, and 48.1% – 7 (“Total agreement”).
I totally agree with the given statement in particular: AUR voters, people between 30 and 59 years old, people with medium or higher education, gray or white collar workers, private employees.
I agree: “Events that are apparently unrelated to each other are often the result of covert activities”
As for the statement “Events that apparently have no connection with each other are often the result of secret activities”, 19.2% of respondents choose 1 (“Totally disagree”), 5.3% -2, 7.3% – 3, 13.5% – 4, 16.5% – 5, 6.6% – 6, and 31.6% -7 (“Total agreement”).
I totally agree with the given statement especially: AUR voters, people between 30 and 59 years old, people with medium education, blue or gray collars, rural dwellers.
I agree with the statement: “There are secret organizations that greatly influence political decisions”
Ask to what extent you agree with the statement “There are secret organizations that greatly influence political decisions”, 17.7% of respondents choose 1 (“Totally disagree”), 4% choose 2, 5% -3, 9.9% – 4, 10.8 % -5, 7.1% – 6, and 45.5% – 7 (“Total agreement”).
I totally agree with the given statement in particular: AUR and PSD voters, people between 30 and 59 years old, people with medium education, gray collars, those with a lower income.
I agree with the statement: “The election results in democratic countries are controlled and do not reflect the vote of the population”
20.1% of respondents choose 1 (“Total Disagree”) to express their opinion regarding the statement “Election results in democratic countries are controlled and do not reflect the vote of the population”. 5.7% choose 2, 7.5% -3, 9.9% – 4, 19.1% -5, 7.2% – 6, and 30.4% – 7 (“Total agreement”).
I totally agree with the given statement in particular: AUR and PSD voters, people between 30 and 44 years old, people with primary or secondary education, blue collar workers, those with a lower income.
According to the director of INSCOP, Remus Ştefureac, belief in conspiracy theories affects the credibility of political institutions.
“Belief in various conspiracy theories is quite widespread among the population affecting both the credibility of political institutions and their ability to build legitimacy. Public discourse with conspiratorial overtones is massively fueled in the public space and amplified by social media. Only one in five Romanians (19%) declares that they rarely or never come across news and information that they think distorts reality or is false, and over 70% say that they come across such information at least several times a month (18%) , either at least once a week (18%), or every day or almost every day (26%), or several times a day (11%)“, declared Remus Ștefureac.
Methodology
The opinion poll was carried out by INSCOP Research on behalf of the News.ro press agency. The data were collected between June 19 and 27, 2024. Research method: interview via questionnaire. The data were collected by the CATI method (telephone interviews), the volume of the simple, stratified sample being 1100 people, representative of the significant socio-demographic categories (sex, age, occupation) for the non-institutionalized population of Romania, aged 18 and over . The maximum allowed error of the data is ± 2.95%, at a confidence level of 95%.
