Adriana Mutu, together with Teodor Răileanu-Olariu, has published a new open-access research paper in Behavioral Sciences, examining how distinct dimensions of authoritarianism are associated with fake-news detection and conspiracy-claim endorsement.
Titled “Differential Associations of Authoritarian Submission and Traditionalism with Fake-News Detection and Conspiracy-Claim Endorsement: Evidence from Two Romanian Samples in the 2024–2025 Electoral Cycle,” the study draws on two independent Romanian samples collected during a period of intense electoral and political contestation.
The findings point to a more differentiated psychology of misinformation than a general “authoritarianism” effect would suggest. Authoritarian submission was the strongest negative correlate of accuracy in detecting false news, whereas traditionalism was the strongest positive correlate of conspiracy-claim endorsement. These findings suggest that different psychological dispositions may be relevant to different forms of engagement with problematic information—from evaluating whether a claim is false to endorsing broader conspiracy narratives.
The Romanian context gives the findings particular relevance. The annulment of the 2024 presidential electoral process highlighted the increasingly consequential relationship between information environments, political behaviour and electoral integrity. Against this backdrop, understanding misinformation requires looking beyond how disinformation is produced and circulated to the psychological processes that shape what people trust, reject or ultimately endorse.
The research contributes to a broader European conversation about democratic resilience in an increasingly fragmented information environment. As elections, political polarisation and geopolitical tensions continue to reshape the European public sphere, understanding the psychological mechanisms underlying information choices is becoming an increasingly important part of understanding democratic behaviour.
The paper is available as an open-access publication in Behavioral Sciences.
Reference:
Răileanu-Olariu, T., & Mutu, A. (2026). Differential Associations of Authoritarian Submission and Traditionalism with Fake-News Detection and Conspiracy-Claim Endorsement: Evidence from Two Romanian Samples in the 2024–2025 Electoral Cycle. Behavioral Sciences, 16(9), 1490. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/16/9/1490#B41-behavsci-16-01490