2020/02/17 by Adrian Bangerter, Pascal Wagner‐Egger, Sylvain Delouvée · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Misinformation and Its Impacts
paper · doi:10.4324/9780429452734-2_5
openalex publication_date 2020/02/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
One of the most widespread and long-running conspiracy theories is about an alleged Jewish plot to undermine Christianity and dominate the world. The longevity, spread and impact of the Jewish conspiracy theory is breathtaking. The Jewish conspiracy theory illustrates an extreme point on three fundamental dimensions along which conspiracy theories can vary, namely stick, spread and action. Stickiness refers to the potential of a representation for belief. The chapter describes the process of transmission itself, before reviewing research on situational factors and features of conspiracy theory content that affect transmission. It aims to define transmission as the process of communicating about a conspiracy theory with other people. Conspiracy theories can also be broadcast via mass media or social media as when people debate the plausibility of conspiracy theories in online forums. Conspiracy theories are spread in two main communicative genres: storytelling and argumentation.