With God We Distrust! The Impact of Values in Conspiracy Theory Beliefs About Migration in Serbia

Immigrants are a popular target of conspiracy theories. Despite the urgent relevance of the topic all around the world today, the number of studies on conspiracy theories about migrants and immigration is limited. Helping to fill this important gap in the academic literature, the research analyses c...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Nefes, Türkay Salim, Milošević Đorđević, Jasna, Vdović, Milica
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/361769
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/361769
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Conspiracy theory belief
Max Weber
Migration
Religious identity
Serbia
Social values
Migration policy
Descripción
Sumario:Immigrants are a popular target of conspiracy theories. Despite the urgent relevance of the topic all around the world today, the number of studies on conspiracy theories about migrants and immigration is limited. Helping to fill this important gap in the academic literature, the research analyses conspiracy theory beliefs about migrants and immigration in contemporary Serbia through survey data from a nationally representative sample (N=1199). Expanding on the Weberian theory of rationality, the study proposes that people’s values about national sovereignty, social conservatism, and religiosity influence their predispositions to believe in conspiracy theories about migrants and immigration. The findings corroborate the argument by showing a statistically significant link between people’s political, social, and religious values and responses to conspiracy theories. The article concludes that values could play a significant role in people’s adoption of conspiracy theories.