Did we trust in science during the <scp>COVID</scp>‐19 pandemic? Modeling the relationship between trust, awareness, and conspiracy theories

Küçükaydın, Menşure Alkış; Esen, Seher; Geçer, Sümeyra

doi:10.1002/acp.4120

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 69 publications

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“…Distrust in the government, media, and scientific community is a key predictor of the belief in conspiracy narratives (Alkış Küçükaydın et al, 2023;Dyrendal & Hestad, 2021). Over time, the rejection of traditional sources of knowledge became a normative belief within the conspiracy community.…”

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confidence: 99%

Us vs. Them: A Subcultural Analysis of Violent Extremism within New Zealand’s Telegram Conspiracy Community

Varty

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<p><strong>This research explores violent extremism during the COVID-19 pandemic within Aotearoa New Zealand’s conspiracy community. Previous academic research has identified the conspiracy community on Telegram as an emerging locus for extremism. However, there has been no Telegram-specific research focusing on violent extremism within the conspiracy subculture in New Zealand. To address this literature gap, I conducted digital ethnographic research, collecting and analysing content (n = 12,000) from a major conspiracy channel within New Zealand’s Telegram ecosystem. My research focused on the prevalent conspiracy narratives, the push and pull factors driving community involvement, and how the community’s subcultural dynamics and rhetoric foster violent extremism. This research found anti-authority narratives to be a central feature of New Zealand’s conspiracy community. Furthermore, I identified the nuanced interplay between the push drivers: existential fear, identity strain, negative emotions, status frustration, socio-economic precarity, and the pull drivers: community, existential meaning, and hope that drove continuous engagement with the conspiracy community. The group’s subcultural dynamics encouraged the adoption of various norms and beliefs, including the rejection of traditional sources of knowledge, immersion in conspiracy narratives, adopting a conspiratorial worldview, anti-authority beliefs, and a zero-sum us-versus-them mindset. Founded on these beliefs, many members of the conspiracy community tacitly accepted, encouraged, and engaged in extremist and violent extremist rhetoric. Furthermore, a small subset of the conspiracy community is evidenced to have adopted a violent extremist worldview, coming to view coercive violence against the government as urgent and necessary. This thesis concludes that the normalisation of violent rhetoric within the conspiracy community fostered an online environment highly conducive to anti-authority politically motivated violent extremism. This research provides an understanding of why individuals engage in conspiracy communities and how their involvement can foster violent extremism, contributing to an understanding of emerging extremist threats within New Zealand to inform policy responses and future academic research.</strong></p>

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confidence: 99%

Us vs. Them: A Subcultural Analysis of Violent Extremism within New Zealand’s Telegram Conspiracy Community

Varty

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Validation of the Scientific Reasoning Competencies Instrument: Relationships with Epistemological Beliefs and Analytical Thinking

Küçükaydın,

Ayaz

2024

Int J of Sci and Math Educ

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Scientific reasoning competencies (SRC) are an area of competence emphasized in science education and are considered essential in the world of 21st Century skills. Developing these competencies is important for all levels of education, from primary school to university. However, to accurately measure them, measurement tools with validity and reliable evidence are needed. The current study was conducted with two different sample groups. In Study-1 (n = 155), the SRC test consisting of 21 items was adapted into Turkish, and evidence of its validity and reliability was presented. To this end, the Turkish adaptation of the SRC test, which was previously developed and tested for validity in different languages, was conducted in a sample of primary school teacher candidates. In Study-2 (n = 483), the relationship between SRC and epistemological beliefs and analytic thinking skills was examined. Regression analysis showed that epistemological beliefs and analytic thinking were significant predictors of SRC. The study and discussion offer implications for future research on the relationship between SRC and other thinking skills not examined in this research.

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Turkish adaptation of the science-P reasoning inventory: examining the relationships between epistemological beliefs, gender, and residential area

Alkış Küçükaydın,

Ayaz,

Akkanat Avşar

et al. 2024

Research in Science & Technological Education

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Did we trust in science during the COVID‐19 pandemic? Modeling the relationship between trust, awareness, and conspiracy theories

Cited by 3 publications

References 69 publications

Us vs. Them: A Subcultural Analysis of Violent Extremism within New Zealand’s Telegram Conspiracy Community

Us vs. Them: A Subcultural Analysis of Violent Extremism within New Zealand’s Telegram Conspiracy Community

Validation of the Scientific Reasoning Competencies Instrument: Relationships with Epistemological Beliefs and Analytical Thinking

Turkish adaptation of the science-P reasoning inventory: examining the relationships between epistemological beliefs, gender, and residential area

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