On the motives of belief in conspiracy theories

Abstract

Conspiracy theories represent one of the phenomena of today's modern information society. They have occurred in human society in every historical period. They are nothing new, but in the 21st century, they have experienced an unprecedented boom, which is undoubtedly related to the rapid development in the field of communication and information technology, the expansion of the Internet, the massive use of social networks and the quick exchange, spread and sharing all kinds of information. For many years, conspiracy theories stood outside the mainstream interest of academics and scientific institutions. Only in the last few years has the situation changed, and initiatives have attempted to build a theoretical framework and conceptualize this construct. For this reason, we decided to contribute to current research in the field of conspiracy theories through this work and, using the relevant qualitative theoretical scientific research methods, to participate in clarifying this increasingly frequent phenomenon in modern human society.