The Coronavirus Conspiracy Boom

Nearly a third of the people we polled believe that the virus was manufactured on purpose. Why?

By Joseph E. Uscinski and Adam M. Enders

But if the coronavirus pandemic is fertile ground for conspiracism, it’s also an opportunity — a rare chance for social scientists to examine just how many Americans will adopt conspiracy theories given the right set of circumstances. While laboratory experiments and public-opinion surveys are useful for understanding the basic structure of conspiracy beliefs, they can’t simulate real-world catastrophes of the kind that make conspiracy theories appealing to some people. It’s wise to step back and use these unique circumstances to consider what conspiracy theories can tell us about the media, the government, and ourselves. It turns out they can tell us a lot.

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