Allegations of election fraud by politicians increase Republican support for political violence, partly due to heightened mistrust of racial and religious outgroups, while having no similar effect on Democrats.

Trump supporters with strong personal loyalty (identity fusion) were more likely to believe his election fraud claims, which further deepened their loyalty and led to greater support for his policies and dismissal of his legal troubles.

In seven studies, we investigated how reporting partial vote counts influences perceptions of election legitimacy. Beliefs in election fraud, as in the 2020 U.S...