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SUSPECTS: Supply, Demand, and Communication of Conspiracy Theories in Comparative Perspective

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Conspiracy theories and people believing in them are increasingly shaping Western political landscape, by affecting democratic norms and contemporary communication environments. This article presents SUSPECTS, a PRIN-funded project involving the Universities of Turin, Bologna, and Milan, which aims at developing an integrated framework to study the demand, supply, and communicative diffusion of conspiratorial narratives. By combining original survey data, elite-level content analysis, and measures of media exposure and interaction, the project links individual predispositions, political actors’ strategic use of conspiratorial cues, and the processes through which such narratives circulate in hybrid media systems. The article outlines the project’s theoretical foundations, methodological architecture, and preliminary findings, and highlights the long-term research infrastructure that SUSPECTS led to: the resulting data, indeed, enable future comparative work, extending the project’s relevance well beyond its original scope.

Source: Italian Political Science

Authors: Moreno Mancosu, Salvatore Vassallo, Andrea Pedrazzani, Marinella Belluati, Sofia Ventura, Arturo Bertero, Ugur Sumbul

Institutions: Collegio Carlo Alberto, University of Turin, University of Bologna, University of Milan

Language: English

Topic: Misinformation and Its Impacts

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: diamond

OpenAlex ID: W7128285739

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