Conspiracy theories have accrued around recent world events, and many of them have been endorsed by leaders seeking to garner support. Drawing from compensatory control theory, we argue a reduced sense of control will increase support for leaders who use conspiratorial rhetoric. Moreover, we posit that the congruence between one's political identity and a leader's conspiratorial rhetoric is an important consideration with regard to when this effect will emerge. Studies 1a and 1b established causality by directly manipulating sense of control and finding greater support for conspiratorial leaders in the lacking vs. having control condition. Studies 2 and 3 examined the effects of real-world events that are posited to reduce a sense of control, along with the moderating effect of political identity. Study 2 showed, in two waves collected before and during COVID-19 lockdowns, that the lockdowns reduced a sense of control. Congruently, individuals supported leaders espousing a COVID-19 conspiracy theory more during the lockdowns than before. In addition, for leaders espousing conspiratorial rhetoric related to paid protests, Republicans exhibited greater support during than before the lockdown; however, the lockdown did not affect Democrats' support. Study 3 showed, in two waves collected before and after the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, that Biden supporters felt greater control after the election and decreased their support for conspiratorial leaders. Trump supporters' sense of control did not change, and concurrently they did not change their support for conspiratorial leaders. Implications are discussed for leadership during times of crisis and beyond.

最近的世界事件中出现了阴谋论，其中许多得到了寻求支持的领导人的认可。根据补偿控制理论，我们认为减少控制感会增加对使用阴谋言论的领导者的支持。此外，我们假设一个人的政治身份与领导人的阴谋言论之间的一致性是关于何时会出现这种影响的一个重要考虑因素。研究 1a 和 1b 通过直接操纵控制感并在缺乏控制与控制条件下为阴谋领袖找到更大的支持来建立因果关系。研究 2 和 3 检验了被假定为降低控制感的现实世界事件的影响，以及政治身份的调节作用。研究 2 表明，在 COVID-19 封锁之前和期间收集的两波浪潮中，封锁降低了控制感。同样，在封锁期间，个人支持支持 COVID-19 阴谋论的领导人比以前更多。此外，对于支持与有偿抗议有关的阴谋言论的领导人，共和党人在封锁期间表现出比封锁前更大的支持；然而，封锁并未影响民主党的支持。研究 3 显示，在 2020 年美国总统大选前后收集的两波浪潮中，拜登的支持者在选举后感到更大的控制权，并减少了对阴谋领导人的支持。特朗普支持者的控制感没有改变，同时他们对阴谋领袖的支持也没有改变。