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The current research offers an explanation for this: causal beliefs only predict policy support when they are specific and correspond with the policy. We test this across six studies (\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">N<\/jats:italic>\n                    = 10,728; quota-representative samples of U.K. and US populations) within two policy domains (obesity and alcohol). In study 1, we test whether specific-corresponding beliefs are stronger correlates of policy support than other causal beliefs. In studies 2 and 4, we test whether communicating specific-corresponding causal evidence can increase policy support. In studies 3 and 4, we identify and confirm the psychological mechanism: perceived policy effectiveness. Study 5 involves a meta-analysis of the experimental studies. This provides support for our theory: specific-corresponding causal beliefs affect policy support, but general and non-corresponding causal beliefs do not.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/01461672261456781","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T08:19:29Z","timestamp":1782289169000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["When and Why Beliefs About the Causes of a Policy Problem Predict Policy Support"],"prefix":"10.1177","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1536-1557","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"James P.","family":"Reynolds","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Aston University, Birmingham, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0552-1019","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tess","family":"Langfield","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aston University, Birmingham, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5259-642X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Charlotte R.","family":"Pennington","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aston University, Birmingham, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_3_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Aczel B. 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