Conspiracy Theories Research Articles

Connecting the experiences of persons with disabilities and social workers in Nigerian care institutions regarding COVID-19 vaccine uptake: a qualitative descriptive-interpretive design.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, persons with disabilities (PWDs) have faced additional disadvantages that have exacerbated their physical and mental health challenges. In Nigeria, where cultural, religious, and informational barriers persist, understanding these factors is critical for improving health interventions, including vaccine uptake among PWDs. This study employed a qualitative descriptive-interpretive design to explore the perceptions of PWDs regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccine, alongside social workers' views on their roles in facilitating vaccine uptake. We conducted in-depth semi-structured telephone interviews with 20 participants, comprising 16 PWDs and four social workers in Nigerian rehabilitation homes. Data were analyzed using critical thematic analysis to identify key themes influencing attitudes toward the pandemic and vaccine uptake. The study uncovered significant barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake among PWDs, primarily driven by mistrust in government initiatives, widespread conspiracy theories, and deeply held cultural and religious beliefs. Additionally, while social workers played crucial roles as community surveillance officers, in-house educators, and community referral agents, their interventions lacked specific strategies aimed at increasing vaccine uptake among PWDs. Their efforts were more focused on addressing the psychological impacts of the pandemic rather than fostering behavioral changes toward vaccine acceptance. To enhance COVID-19 vaccine uptake among PWDs in Nigerian rehabilitation homes, targeted interventions that address the identified barriers are essential. These should include trust-building measures, culturally and religiously sensitive communication strategies, and tailored educational programs by social workers. Moreover, training social workers in specific, evidence-based strategies to increase vaccine uptake is crucial for mitigating the pandemic's impact on this vulnerable population.

Zakonšpirované Slovensko 1938 – 1945. Niekoľko úvah nad tvárami neviditeľného spiritus movens ľudáckeho režimu

The paradigm of Hlinka’s Slovak People’s Party (HSĽS) regime, as well as the persecutory measures implemented against fabricated “enemies of the nation” during its reign (October 1938 – April 1945), were based on conspiracy theories. This essay identifies the main ones, pointing out their genesis, intentionality, and ways of operating with them in political practice. The analysis shows that although many conspiracy frames used in wartime Slovakia correlated with narratives in other countries of the fascist Axis, they cannot be considered copypastes of rhetoric popularized mostly by Nazi Germany. The text promotes the idea that the conspiratorial thinking of the HSĽS already formed in the late Habsburg monarchy at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and the changes in international politics in the 1930s only had an effect on their firmer establishment in the political culture of the party and political preferences of its supporters. The basis of this conspiratorial thinking was the fear of liberalism, of the threat to the Christian faith and the Slovak nation by a group of highly sophisticated interconnected “pests” with destructive intentions. Until 1918, it primarily included the Marxist left, capitalists, freemasons, and liberals in general, and after the creation of Czechoslovakia, Czechs, and Jews to an increased extent. The essay emphasizes that precisely the argumentation of conspiracy theories (“imperialism of Prague against Slovakia/Slovaks”, “Jewish Bolshevism”) provided the legitimizing platform for the repressive policy of the HSĽS regime and authorized violence against entire groups of the population that did not belong to the “ingroup”.

“We don’t believe in [the] Coronavirus; we believe in Allah. Whatever happens, it happens from Allah”: Pakistani media’s response to countering conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic

This study examines the coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic by the four leading newspapers of Pakistan—Dawn, The News, Daily Times and The Nation—when they were responsible for informing and educating the public during a health crisis hit by conspiracy theories. The researchers utilized content analysis to analyze 1,124 news stories. The findings reveal less emphasis was placed on scientifically investigating the causes, precautions and care of coronavirus and dispelling public misconceptions.

Content analysis of fluoride-related posts on Instagram

BackgroundThe Internet and social media have become many people’s primary sources of health information. Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms, and users spend a significant amount of time daily on the platform. Therefore, analyzing oral health-related information shared online can help to identify the requirements of specific groups, assisting in the planning and execution of educational public health actions. As a result, this study was carried out to conduct a qualitative evaluation of fluoride-related content on Instagram in 2022–2023.MethodsUsing hashtags associated with fluoride, a search was conducted on the Instagram application in the Persian language. All fluoride-containing posts were saved, and data was collected thrice at two-month intervals. MAXQDA software version 2020 was used to categorize the collected data content based on type, quality, and quantity.ResultsThe qualitative analysis included 1565 (9.45%) posts with fluoride-related content out of 16,475 total posts. After removing the duplicates, 400 posts remained, among which 282 posts (70.5%) and 118 posts (29.5%) were pro- and anti-fluoride, respectively. After qualitative analysis, 270 codes were examined and categorized into three main themes and eight subthemes: “fluoride sources,” “The advantages and disadvantages of fluoride,” and “Invalid beliefs about fluoride.”ConclusionThe frequency of pro-fluoride use was higher than anti-fluoride posts. However, due to the high prevalence of posts containing false information on fluoride toxicity for health, ineffectiveness on caries prevention, and conspiracy theories, there is a need to improve the quality of information on fluoride by providing scientific and unbiased explanations by professionals online or during dental visits and supervising social media content.

Attitude Towards AI: Potential Influence of Conspiracy Belief, XAI Experience and Locus of Control

The proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, exemplified by Large Language Models (LLM), has ushered in a transformative era across various fields. As the AI revolution will impact societies in complex and uncertain ways, it is likely that persons tending towards belief of conspiracy theories also tend to form more negative and less positive attitudes towards AI. Such persons might believe that some evil force will use AI to destroy human mankind. Drawing on the Interplay of Modality, Person, Area, Country/Culture, and Transparency categories (IMPACT) framework, this study aims to investigate the interplay of locus of control (LOC), belief in conspiracy theories, and the perception of the importance and availability of eXplainable AI (XAI) on attitudes towards AI (measured via AI acceptance and fear). The study used an online survey with 281 participants from the UK and 281 from the Arab world. Statistical analysis revealed that in the UK but not in the Arab sample, female participants reported higher fear of AI and lower acceptance of AI compared to males. The regression results consistently confirmed the role of internal LOC, perceived XAI importance, and perceived availability of XAI in fostering AI acceptance, as well as the role of belief in conspiracy theories, external LOC, and perceiving availability of XAI as being low in increasing fear of AI. The perceived availability of XAI emerges as a crucial influencing factor; addressing it appropriately could enhance societal awareness and acceptance of AI while reducing fear. Personal factors and XAI influence attitudes towards AI in both Arab and UK cultures, enhancing result robustness and revealing nuanced differences.

Hotep anti-Blackness: Misogynoir and queer exclusion in online conspiracy theorizing

Research suggests African Americans are more likely than Whites to support conspiracy theories, especially those related to the U.S. government. Locating the pedagogical practices of Black activists in the online hotep subculture, I use the concept of public pedagogy to understand how these activist influencers use social media to spread political messages in the public sphere. This essay situates hotep subculture as a conspiritualist project that uses Pan-Africanism, Afrocentricity, Black spirituality, and hip-hop culture to advance conspiracy theories among Black communities for consciousness-raising and economic independence. While hoteps have promulgated a pro-Black politic, their reliance on ethnonationalist homophobia and misogynoir promotes a form of erasure that is not only exclusionary and anti-Black but also reflects racial fears rooted in anxiety. This essay contributes to the growing literature on conspiritualism’s investment in white supremacy and the need for conspiritualist critiques to investigate how anti-Blackness shows up in discourses at the intersection of faith, spirituality, and global regimes of power. Drawing on the concepts of misogynoir and anti-Black heterotopias, Black gender and sexual minorities are framed within hotep discourse as subservient, deviant, and perilous to Black liberation.

Misinformation and perception of COVID-19 and risk assessment among people in Pakistan: A pilot study.

During the coronavirus pandemic, misinformation was circulated through technology and social media on a large scale. Since people rely on media to keep connected and informed, misinformation can prevent them from staying safe. To examine the quality of information reaching Pakistanis, the effect of information/misinformation on people's perception, and its relationship with risky health behaviours in different demographical groups. A community sample of N= 103 Pakistanis was assessed using a mixed-method cross-sectional survey research design to investigate their sources of knowledge/information, perceptions of coronavirus-related facts, and risky health behaviours. Content analysis of the material that participants read/watched indicated the possible effect of media on people's perception of COVID-19. Specific demography (e.g., increasing age) and people's tendency to believe misinformation/information may indicate risky health behaviours pertaining to coronavirus infection. Findings showed how the models considered (social cognitive theory, biological warfare conspiracy theory, theory of planned behaviour, protection motivation theory, the health belief model, and biopsychosocial model) may be relevant to examination of the effects of misinformation on different demographic groups. The findings and models need to be verified on larger, more representative samples of Pakistanis using a large-scale survey based on the insights obtained from this pilot study.

Combating Misinformation on Social Media Using Social Noise and Social Entropy as a Measure of Uncertainty

ABSTRACTRecent events around the world, including the war in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza have highlighted the effective use of social media as a tool to voice concerns about social issues to create awareness. At the same time, social media has become a fertile ground for spreading misinformation, fake news, and conspiracy theories. Misinformation and conspiracy theories have existed since the existence of mankind. What is new today is the speed by which misinformation can be created, magnified and spread using social media. Efforts to regulate social media and control the widespread spread of misinformation are still lacking due to rapid advances in technology and concerns regarding free speech. One approach to minimizing the impact of misinformation is to focus on social noise as an important factor in magnifying and spreading misinformation. In this paper, we investigate methods of identifying and quantifying social noise using social entropy as a measure of uncertainty and topic modeling. Results from the study have shown a direct relationship between social noise and social entropy. The results have also shown that social noise and social entropy decrease with the use of URLs and rich content (sematic information). Further studies will include the use of machine learning and AI techniques to improve the definition of social news and social entropy.

The online exchange of conspiracy theories within an Irish extreme right wing Telegram group during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT While the extreme right wing (ERW) has not gained a foothold in local or national Irish politics, the country has witnessed a growth in online activism and harassment, and physical protest and violence. This paper explores a case study based on 4876 unique posts from one Irish-based Telegram group active during six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The main findings are that: (a) this group was heavily influenced by foreign content and influencers, in particular, American ERW content and conspiracies associated with QAnon; (b) conspiracy theories were not adopted wholesale but adapted for an Irish audience; (c) Irish actors were not passive receivers of US content, and multi-directional exchanges of ideas were witnessed. While generalising beyond the case study analysed in this paper would require further data, this may suggest that Irish influencers are part of a transnational online ecosystem in which ideas and theories are shared and adapted to local contexts. These findings offer insights into the ERW in Ireland and, more generally, how the ERW communicates and spread conspiracy theories across national borders.

Negative capacity. From a psychoanalytic notion to a democratic strategy for dealing with conspiracy theories

Authors claim an innovative viewpoint on the conspiracy theories phenomenon. Considering them as epiphenomena of the crisis, authors do not see them as a mere attack to democracy (although they may have anti-democratic effects), rather they see them as creations in response to the human need for meaning. Thinking about the concepts of power and knowledge democracy, authors argue that the development of negative capacity can represent a strategy for individual and social development in a democratic perspective. Such capacity, if cultivated in a systemic and systematic way, can support the coexistence of different narratives (conspiracy and non-conspiracy) and well-being, providing an important aid to the individual and social right to understand the world while respecting otherness.   

Negative capacity. From a psychoanalytic notion to a democratic strategy for dealing with conspiracy theories

Authors claim an innovative viewpoint on the conspiracy theories phenomenon. Considering them as epiphenomena of the crisis, authors do not see them as a mere attack to democracy (although they may have anti-democratic effects), rather they see them as creations in response to the human need for meaning. Thinking about the concepts of power and knowledge democracy, authors argue that the development of negative capacity can represent a strategy for individual and social development in a democratic perspective. Such capacity, if cultivated in a systemic and systematic way, can support the coexistence of different narratives (conspiracy and non-conspiracy) and well-being, providing an important aid to the individual and social right to understand the world while respecting otherness.   

The Language of Conspiracy Theories: Negative Emotions and Themes Facilitate Diffusion Online

Global polling has seen an increase in endorsement of conspiratorial beliefs in recent years, with social media platforms receiving criticism for their potential role in facilitating this spread. The current study analyzed the presence of emotions and themes in conspiratorial content (revolving around conspiracy theories or conspiratorial ideas) on Twitter (now “X”) and Reddit when compared to scientific and general discussion, and the ability of emotions and themes to predict engagement (likes, shares etc.) in conspiratorial spheres. Approximately four million words worth of content were collected from Twitter and Reddit and analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) tool to determine concentration of different emotions and themes. Conspiratorial discussions were found to show significantly higher rates of anger, anxiety, power, and death compared to both scientific and general discussions across both platforms. Engagement was successfully predicted within conspiracy discussions; higher levels of anger, anxiety, power, and death predicted higher levels of engagement in conspiracy discussions. Contrary to previous findings, positive emotions were predictive of lower levels of engagement in conspiracy-related discussions. The findings suggest that conspiratorial content relies on powerful negative emotional responses to gain traction and increase audience engagement. The findings are discussed in the context of cognitive processes involved in the adoption of conspiracy theories, and we offer suggestions for researchers developing educational interventions and social media platforms to reduce the spread of conspiracy theories online.

Normalizing and Mainstreaming the French Radical Right: Divergences in Leadership Communication during a Summer of Inland and Borderland Tensions

Abstract The radical right has become a central political force in most Western democracies. This process has been the result of the normalization and mainstreaming of its political leaders, discourses, and visions of society, notably involving the scapegoating of immigration and the use of the Great Replacement conspiracy theory. However, the normalization and mainstreaming of radical right actors competing for the leadership of their overall political family remain an under-researched topic. The scope of the current article is to explore this phenomenon by considering the case of France, which after the United States, is the largest Western state that could potentially be ruled by a radical right president with extensive executive powers. The analysis shows that actors competing for the leadership of the radical right in a given country can generate diverging strategies of normalization and mainstreaming to secure their political distinction. Immigration and the Great Replacement constitute, respectively, a topic and a conspiracy theory that are emphasized and/or downplayed by opportunistic stakeholders weaving a web of interactions to define their comparative legitimacy and supremacy in the public sphere.

'They are conspiring against us': How outgroup conspiracy theories stimulate environmental neglect in intergroup resource dilemmas.

Natural resources are limited, and people often share these limited resources in groups, which creates an intergroup resource dilemma. To understand individuals' sustainable behaviours in intergroup resource dilemmas in the context of group interactions, the present research systematically investigates the effect of outgroup conspiracy theories on sustainable behaviours and preliminarily explores the internal mechanism underlying this effect. First, a survey study (Study 1) relying on real-world intergroup relations first confirmed the negative correlation between outgroup conspiracy beliefs and sustainable intentions in intergroup resource dilemmas. Then, an online experimental study that utilized the real situation of a region in China (Study 2) tested the causal relationship between exposure to an outgroup conspiracy theory and sustainable intentions, as well as showing the mediating role of intergroup threat perception underlying this relationship. Finally, a preregistered experimental laboratory study (Study 3) further verified the causal effect of exposure to an outgroup conspiracy theory on sustainable behaviours, again confirming the mediating role of intergroup threat perception. In general, our research demonstrates that exposure to an outgroup conspiracy theory stimulates individuals' environmental neglect and reduces their sustainable behaviours by increasing their perceptions of intergroup threat when faced with intergroup resource dilemmas.

Analysis of Profiles of Supporters of Conspiracy Narratives about Vaccination Against COVID-19 on a Social Network

The article analyzes the socio-demographic characteristics and value-worldview self-positioning of the distributors of conspiracy narratives (“conspiracy theories”) about vaccination against COVID-19 on the Russian social network “VK”. The research material consists of 33,674 profiles of VK users who published at least two messages during the pandemic that explicate the stated narrative. The collection and analysis of the material was carried out using big data analysis technologies. The purpose of the study is to determine whether it is possible to identify typical socio-demographic and ideological traits of anti-vaccer conspiracy theorists, which to a certain extent explain their penchant for conspiracy thinking. The results obtained refute the marginal dominance of conspiracy theorists in a pandemic situation. Versions popular in the scientific literature about the predominance of insufficiently educated people among “conspiracy theorists”, or the elderly as more gullible, or women as more suggestible, or residents of villages and small provincial towns as more conservative, etc. are not confirmed by the large-scale empirical studies of large user data. The results of the study may be useful for developing countermeasures and strategies to address public mistrust of institutions and official trends in public health, in particular vaccination policies. The traditional focus on information and educational measures (explanations about the dangers of the disease and the benefits of the vaccine) seems to be ineffective in the context of the emergence of value systems, cognitive distortions, general socio-political tension and other reasons that are still awaiting serious study.

Rethinking the “Conspiracy Crisis”: Use and Misuse of “Conspiracy Theory” Labels After Covid‐19

Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, this article undertakes a critical evaluation of a series of shortcomings of the view of conspiracy theories that is predominant among scholars and the general public. Reviewing numerous studies on the topic, we critically assess: (a) how justified the claim is that we are in a conspiracy-thinking emergency, (b) how the label of conspiracy theorist can be weaponized to delegitimize heterodox views, and (c) the practical consequences, for academic research and the well-functioning of democracies, of unpopular ideas being labeled as conspiratorial. The empirical sources reviewed here suggest that beliefs in conspiracy theories have not increased over time and are less consequential than commonly believed, even in times of a global pandemic. Instead, the concept of conspiracy theory has become more prevalent and its derogatory connotation evokes a stigma that tilts the democratic playing field against dissenting viewpoints. The stigmatization and political leveraging of this notion, we argue, lead to biases not only in the public discussion on various sensitive topics but also in the academic literature on conspiracy theories themselves. We analyze these academic blind spots in light of the diminishing political diversity in academia and recent perspectives on scientific censorship. We propose to complement the research on conspiracy theorists with an analysis of individuals at the opposite end of the spectrum, who are inclined to systematically trust institutional authorities and are highly prejudiced against heterodox opinions. Proposed solutions include promoting balanced news coverage, fostering critical thinking through debates, and piercing information bubbles to provide access to diverse perspectives.

Происхождение политической эсхатологии в Европе: Французская революция как космическая борьба добрых и злых сил

Eschatology is a religious doctrine about the coming end of the world and the coming of a new age. Beginning in the late 18th century, eschatology acquired a political content and was used often by many European ideologies, especially nationalism and socialism, to explain the course of history. Revolutions often included an eschatological content. The French Revolution was the first major European revolution with a large eschatological content. This article examines the influence of eschatology on the course of this revolution. The eschatological tendencies, begun in the French and other revolutions, culminated in the Russian Revolution of 1917-1922. These tendencies included dividing people into categories of the saved and condemned, demonization of enemies, especially internal ones, conspiracy theories, compiling criteria for membership in a political or ethnic nation, determining norms of correct behavior for members of the nation, compiling criteria for the exclusion of people from the ranks of the nation. The article theme has a certain relevance to contemporary outbreaks of political and religious eschatology in different movements and ideologies.

Association between beliefs in medical conspiracy theories and health behaviors among medical and healthcare students. Implications for professional practice.

While conspiracy theories cover many different themes, medical conspiracy theories (MCTs) have become particularly prevalent in modern societies. As beliefs in MCTs can become a source of "infodemics", influence individual health behaviors and cause distrust in medical institutions and personnel, healthcare workers must find ways to overturn patients' conspiracy thinking. However, as the medical world is not free of these beliefs, in this study, we investigated beliefs in MCTs among medical and health science students and their association with reported health behaviors. Our sample was derived from a self-administered, anonymized, computer-assisted web survey conducted among 1,175 medical and health science students enrolled at the Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland. From a set of twenty different MCTs, one-third of students rejected all of them, 18% believed in one, 15% in two, 10% in three, and 24% supported four or more conspiracy theories. In addition, many students were hesitant or unsure about MCTs. We also found that nursing and midwifery students were the most likely to believe in MCTs, while medical and dental students were the least supportive. Support for MCTs was higher among students in the early years of their studies and who declared themselves religious and conservative. This study also highlights the association between students' support for MCTs and their reported health behaviors, including avoiding vaccinations, using alternative medicine, taking vitamin C, or using social media as an essential source of health information. As medical and health science students are prone to conspiratorial thinking, they should be trained to act as a trusted and reliable source of medical information, to mitigate conspiratorial beliefs, and to act as role models for their patients and society, effectively shaping health behaviors in the population.

Guiding interpretation towards deproblematization: A video interview with a Climate Change denier analysed as conspiracy theory

Guiding interpretation towards deproblematization: A video interview with a Climate Change denier analysed as conspiracy theory

Types of Knowledge in Post-Scientistic Society

At times of informational deluge, the man in the street is especially vulnerable to the harmful influence of media, to which not only closed groups of people sharing the same beliefs and views contribute but also bots and trolls spreading fake news in the form of conspiracy theories, misinformation, disinformation and propaganda. This audience without proper education and not reflecting on the information gained, can spread more information of this type. Scholars closed in their own reality, conceived of only their inerrancy not only are unable to support, but also are not conducive to the development of science. They also vilify people having different views and the representatives of other disciplines, which they consider inferior. This introduction presents the value of different types of knowledge, not only the scientific ones, and shows its importance for people who may not have other possibilities to learn and understand true science which indicates the meaning of knowledge, which is accessible for people without an academic education. Different types of knowledge, even the seemingly non-scientific type, are the basics for human development and learning. The key to this development, however, is teaching critical thinking. Essential for any change is also the proper choice of academic powers, appreciating and supporting researchers who really affect science, apart from the closed environment of faithful fanatics, and who are able to do science at a global level.