I Would Give Anything to Talk about Aliens Now

QAnon Conspiracy Theories and the Creation of Cognitive Deviance

Bibliographic Data

ID2363774
AuthorsMeggan M Jordan (0000-0003-4712-6615, California State University Stanislaus, Turlock, CA, USA, corresponding author), Jennifer M Whitmer (0000-0002-7228-0246, California State University, Stanislaus)
Year2023
Volume66
Issue6
Pages992-1014
Publication date2023-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociological Perspectives (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0731-1214 • E-ISSN: 1533-8673
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/07311214231181383
OpenAlexW4383069069
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited43

Conspiracy theory researchers observed how the conspiracy theory known as QAnon traveled from dark Web message boards like 4chan to mainstream sources like Facebook, turning everyday people into fervent believers. However, the responses from nonbelievers have been overlooked. We report findings from in-depth interviews with adults ( n = 20) who identify as concerned about their family member's involvement with the QAnon conspiracy theory. Overall, the findings reveal the fundamental basis for nonbelievers' concern about QAnon. Participants reported epistemic conflicts, out-of-character behavior, broken boundaries, and fears of future actions due to their family member's involvement in QAnon. The study contributes to the theoretical concept of cognitive deviance by empirically documenting the point at which beliefs become deviant in the eyes of others

Cognition · Epistemology · Mainstream · Sociology · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Law · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Social Psychology · Spam and Phishing Detection

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