The predictors of conspiracy theory belief in Türkiye during the COVID-19 pandemic

Conspiracy theories tend to emerge as alternative narratives to the information provided by legitimate authorities and become widespread in times of epistemic uncertainty. While prior research has explained the belief in conspiracy theories through information deficiency or the psychological and cognitive characteristics of individuals, these explanations fall short in accounting for the sociological factors that contribute to the proliferation of alternative truth discourses with eroding trust in political and scientific authorities. This thesis aims for an expanded understanding of conspiracy theory beliefs by incorporating trust as a sociological predictor in a global health crisis context. It investigates how trust in political institutions, healthcare services, scientists, and the news media is connected to belief in health-related conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic, controlling for sociodemographic factors such as class, religiosity, and political ideology. Research data is obtained from the Turkey COVID-19 Values Study (TCVS) Survey, which was conducted face-to-face with 1500 participants between April and May 2022. According to the multiple regression analysis, people who distrust political institutions, healthcare services, and scientists have significantly higher levels of conspiracy theory belief. Moreover, lower class and greater religiosity predict lower belief in conspiracy theories. The findings indicate that building trust during the communication of health-related information and management of public health might decrease belief in conspiracy theories in times of informational uncertainty.