Philip Habel (University of South Alabama)

Work in progress Seminar – Unrest and Pandemics, Heights and Small-Spaces: Fear and Beliefs in Conspiracies

Abstract. Citizen beliefs in conspiracies has attracted significant attention among both scholarly and public audiences. Scholars have shown that individuals’ perceptions of threat can be one important driver of conspiratorial thinking. Here we probe more deeply into the relationship between citizens’ fears and beliefs in conspiracies. We examine citizens’ apprehensions across a variety of domains, both societal and personal, and the implications for a diversity of conspiracy beliefs—including beliefs that are more widespread and those that are more extreme, and beliefs pertaining to politics and those to society more generally.