[Conspiracy narratives in the context of the coronavirus pandemic]

Beliefs in conspiracies have been widely discussed in society since the worldwide outbreak of the pandemic triggered by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since May 2020 there have been demonstrations throughout Germany in which conspiracy ideology played an important role. The number of conspiracy ideology channels and groups rose during the crisis. Many family members were suddenly confronted in a private context with the question of how to deal with the fact that people close to them suddenly sensed conspiracies everywhere. To have a better understanding of conspiracy narratives this article therefore presents psychological insights that attempt to explain why people believe in conspiracies and what consequences this world view might have. Based on these findings the article discusses how misinformation and conspiracy narratives can be dealt with in a therapeutic setting.