Although an increasing volume of research has identified several negative sociopolitical attitudes as correlates of conspiracy theories, to date it remains unclear whether belief in conspiracy theorie

The gap

Consensus across the literature

Supporting evidence — 4 representative gaps

• Discourse Analysis of Digital Conspiracy Theories: Comprehending Information Dissemination (2026) · doi

  problems and of 7. Gusenbauer M, Haddaway NR 2020 Which for academic search systems are suitable systematic reviews or meta-analyses? Evaluating retrieval qualities of Google Scholar, PubMed, resources. Research Synthesis and 26 other Methods 11(2): 181–217. 8. Mahl D, Zeng J, Schäfer MS 2021 From “nasa lies” to “reptilian eyes”: mapping communication about 10 conspiracy theories, their communities, and main propagators on Twitter. Social Media + Society 7(2): 1–12. 9. Schatto-Eckrodt T, Boberg S, Wintterlin F, et al. 2020 Use and assessment of sources in conspiracy theorists’ communities. In: Grimme C, Preuss M, Takes FW, et al. (eds) Disinformation in Open Online Media. Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 25–32. 10. heocharis Y, Cardenal A, Jin S, et al. 2021 Does the platform matter? Social media and COVID-19 conspiracy theory beliefs in 17 countries. New Media & Society. Epub ahead of print 9 October. 11. van Prooijen J-W, Douglas KM 2017 Conspiracy theories as part of history: the role of societal crisis situations. Memory Studies 10(3): 323–333. 12. Bruns, A., & Burgess, J. 2011. The use of Twitter hashtags in the formation of ad hoc publics. In Proceedings of the 6th European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) General Conference. 13. Bruns, A., & Burgess, J. 2013. Researching news discussion on Twitter: New methodologies. Journalism Studies, 14(5), 801-814. 14. Colombo, F. 2020. “Bill Gates Created COVID- 19”: A Case Study in Online Conspiracy Theories.

  Keywords: conspiracy media theories twitter communities social society online covid bruns burgess problems gusenbauer haddaway academic
• Reviewing the Stigma: A Critical Analysis of Conspiracy Belief in Social Science Research (2026) · doi

  corporating additional perspectives, such as media representation or dissemination studies, to provide a more comprehensive understanding and to test The corpus of 25 empirical articles, published be- the robustness of the observed deficit orientation. tween 2020 and 2025, provides a focused insight into contemporary discursive patterns on conspiracy be-

  Keywords: corporating additional perspectives media representation dissemination provide comprehensive understanding test corpus empirical articles published robustness
• Reviewing the Stigma: A Critical Analysis of Conspiracy Belief in Social Science Research (2026) · doi

  liefs. However, the restricted time frame limits the ability to assess longer-term changes in discursive The analysis shows that, across empirical social sci- strategies. Examining such historical shifts would ence studies on the psychological and social char- require a follow-up study with a broader tempo- acteristics of conspiracy believers from 2020 to 2025, ral scope. Restricting the search to English-lan- there is a persistent deficit orientation, with a strong guage articles, although justified by the dominance tendency to pathologize or stigmatize individuals. of English in international research on conspiracy Although some contributions acknowledge the com- theories, might overlook important findings from plexity of conspiracy thinking and its entanglement non-English-speaking contexts. with broader social, political, and historical contexts, these perspectives remain exceptions. By framing The use of a single database was a deliberate choice conspiracy believers predominantly in terms of in- to maintain precision and manageability; however, trapersonal deficits, research risks reinforcing po- this may have led to the omission of studies indexed larization, reproducing stigma, and overlooking the exclusively in other databases, potentially narrow- power relations and structural conditions that may, ing the scope of the included literature. in fact, enable real conspiracies. 67 Qualitative Sociology Review • www.qualitativesociologyreview.orgAnnika Barzen Future studies should adopt more reflexive ap- proaches, critically examining their own assump- tions and the potential consequences of their ter- minology and research design. Qualitative and mixed-method approaches could help to capture the nuanced, ambivalent, and context-dependent character of conspiracy beliefs. Moreover, exploring potential positive correlations, such as links to cre- ativity or civic engagement, could counterbalance the current overemphasis on pathology. A more differentiated research agenda is therefore essential, not only for achieving scientific accuracy and reflex- ivity, but also for ensuring reliable and transparent scholarship, which is vital for sustaining public trust and upholding democratic values.

  Keywords: conspiracy social english examining historical broader believers scope contexts qualitative potential liefs restricted time frame
• Power to the People: The Hidden Link Between Support for Direct Democracy and Belief in Conspiracy Theories (2021) · doi

  Although an increasing volume of research has identified several negative sociopolitical attitudes as correlates of conspiracy theories, to date it remains unclear whether belief in conspiracy theories is necessarily in conflict with support for democratic governance.

  Keywords: conspiracy theories increasing volume identified several negative sociopolitical attitudes correlates date remains unclear whether belief