Exploring the impacts of conspiracy theories on election dynamics in Spain and Turkey Salim Nefes, Türkay Romero Reche, Alejandro Conspiracy theories disinformation; elections; The academic literature has increasingly emphasized examining the impact of conspiracy theories on political and social behaviour. However, there is a notable dearth of studies on the potential effects of conspiracy theories on elections. This study addresses this gap by discussing the plausible social mechanisms through which conspiracy theories might influence individuals’ voting behaviour. It proposes three social mechanisms through which conspiracy theories influence election results: (1) stimulating conspiracy intuitions, (2) intensifying affective polarization and (3) unintended consequences arising from efforts to debunk conspiracy theories. In sum, this research contributes to the scholarship by elucidating the potential significance of these mechanisms in contemporary Spanish and Turkish politics and posits suggestions for policy interventions. 2024-07-19T10:52:18Z 2024-07-19T10:52:18Z 2024-05-20 journal article Salim Nefes, T. Romero Reche, A. Exploring the impacts of conspiracy theories on election dynamics in Spain and Turkey, Mediterranean Politics. [https://doi.org/10.1080/13629395.2024.2355032] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/93267 10.1080/13629395.2024.2355032 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ open access Atribución 4.0 Internacional Taylor & Francis group