[Working title] “Secularized superstition”? On the complicated relationship between religious transformations and conspiracy beliefs

The relationship between religiosity and belief in conspiracies has been increasingly discussed in the social science literature in recent years. It is often argued that religion has lost its social significance in past decades and that people are therefore confronted with a kind of cultural vacuum. The associated challenges of contingent and ambiguous situations are now 'solved' by conspiracy beliefs. Whereas previously God and the devil were invoked as the causes of incomprehensible and threatening political developments, conspiracy theories are now being developed as comprehensive explanations. Conspiracy theories could therefore be defined as "the result of the secularisation of religious superstition" (Karl Popper). This discussion has been reignited by the coronavirus pandemic and the various anti-vaccination campaigns in Germany and internationally. It turned out that a not inconsiderable proportion of the demonstrators came from spiritual or esoteric backgrounds. This raised the question of whether alternative and non-church forms of religiosity or "spirituality" are particularly susceptible to conspiracy theories. In my dissertation, I would like to explore this issue in more detail. My first focus is on measurement issues. With regard to changes in religious and spiritual beliefs, my aim is to develop a conceptually symmetrical quantitative scale that allows a valid measurement of 'religiosity' and 'spirituality'. This is necessary in order to make a clear distinction without assuming an inherent contradiction between the two forms of belief (which has already been empirically refuted several times, but is nevertheless often implied theoretically). With regard to conspiracy beliefs, I am also particularly interested in their psychometric differentiation from general political distrust. While conspiracy beliefs are necessarily based on distrust, I believe it is crucial not to conflate the two phenomena. Finally, I would like to examine empirically the relationship between religion and conspiracy beliefs: Are religious or spiritual people more susceptible to conspiracy theories? Does dechurchification play a role? And what role does religion play in the context of crisis, a commonly accepted catalyst for conspiracy beliefs? Can it actually provide support and meaning, or does it have a polarising effect? To answer these questions, I will use multivariate analysis of survey data as well as experimental and qualitative methods.