Ten Black Americans were allegedly killed at a supermarket in Buffalo by a White gunman who promoted a racist conspiracy theory. A congressional candidate who supports QAnon has won a Republican primary. Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary candidate Kathy Barnette has repeatedly spread the conspiracy theory that former president Barack Obama is Muslim. Tucker Carlson and Glenn Greenwald have spread the falsehood that the United States is secretly funding biological weapons research in Ukraine, part of a wider campaign to spread misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic.

Once such theories simmered in fringe movements. Today, numerous elected officials, media figures and political candidates have embraced these theories in their campaigning and outreach. And a growing number of Americans agree with some or more of these seemingly outlandish ideas.

Why is the United States seeing such growing acceptance of conspiracy theories? Social science research suggests that extreme polarization, political anxiety and a rapidly changing media environment can help explain the rapid spread.

QAnon first appeared in late 2017 on a website called 4chan, known as a breeding ground for conspiratorial and violent rhetoric. Someone who claimed to be a government employee with a special security clearance called himself “Q Clearance Patriot” and vowed to expose a “deep state” cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who allegedly control the U.S. government.

The cabal is allegedly composed of...

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