Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T13:45:32.508Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 8 - QAnon in the Year 2020

The Bigger Social Picture

from Part III - QAnon and Society

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 September 2023

By
Charles P. Edwards
Edited by
Monica K. Miller
Monica K. Miller
Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Reno
Get access

Summary

QAnon started in late 2017 but gained traction and attention in 2020 amidst a chaotic social climate which is critical for understanding QAnon and its growth. This chapter presents evidence that QAnon-related traffic on social media increased during the pandemic, both domestically and globally, and offers anecdotal evidence of how QAnon’s messaging has changed as it has spread internationally, adopting nation-specific issues. Next, the chapter offers psychological explanations for these trends. Conspiracy theories flourish in times of uncertainty and group membership can provide meaningful connections that alleviate isolation. Conspiracies are more believed by people who also believe that society’s values are being threatened—an effect called system identity threat. Terror management theory suggests that reminders of death might affect the sentiment of individual people and society in general. Finally, mortality salience can promote following of religious beliefs. As a quasi-religious group, QAnon could have gained support due to mortality salience. The uncertainty and threats of 2020 might have contributed to QAnon’s popularity.

Keywords

COVID-19Black Lives Matter2020 electionsocial mediaconspiracy theorygroup membershipsystem identity threatterror management theory
Type
Chapter
Information
The Social Science of QAnon
A New Social and Political Phenomenon
 , pp. 123 - 139
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AFP. (2020, September 15). COVID as a “catalyst” for QAnon’s rise in Europe. France24. www.france24.com/en/20200915-covid-a-catalyst-for-qanon-s-rise-in-europeGoogle Scholar
Ahmad, F. B., Cisewski, J. A., Miniño, A., & Anderson, R. N. (2021). Provisional mortality data – United States, 2020. CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 70(14), 519–522.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
AJMC Staff. (2021, January 1). A timeline of COVID-19 developments in 2020. The American Journal of Managed Care. www.ajmc.com/view/a-timeline-of-covid19-developments-in-2020Google Scholar
Allen, K. A. (2020). The psychology of belonging. Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Altemeyer, B., & Hunsberger, B. (1992). Authoritarianism, religious fundamentalism, quest, and prejudice. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 2, 113–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BBC News – Europe. (2020, March 19). German police raid neo-Nazi Reichsbürger movement nationwide. BBC News. www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51961069Google Scholar
BLM Global Network. (2020, July 6). What defund the police really means. Black Lives Matter. https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-defunding-the-police-really-means/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=pmd_52abba25e7f25e4b9e34a9b515c0d3061514a6b7-1627912133-0-gqNtZGzNAjijcnBszQiOGoogle Scholar
Brady, S., D’Ambrosio, L. A., Felts, A., Rula, E. Y., Kell, K. P., & Coughlin, J. F. (2020). Reducing isolation and loneliness through membership in a fitness program for older adults: Implications for health. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 39(3), 301–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cillizza, C. (2020, October 23). Trump just handed Biden a devastating debate attack. CNN. www.cnn.com/2020/10/22/politics/trump-biden-final-debate-2020/index.htmlGoogle Scholar
Constantinou, M., Gloster, A. T., & Karekla, M. (2021). I won’t comply because it is a hoax: Conspiracy beliefs, lockdown compliance, and the importance of psychological flexibility. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 20, 46–51.Google Scholar
Corley, C. (2021, May 25). Black Lives Matter fights disinformation to keep the movement strong. NPR. www.npr.org/2021/05/25/999841030/black-lives-matter-fights-disinformation-to-keep-the-movement-strongGoogle Scholar
Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2008). The hidden impact of conspiracy theories: Perceived and actual influence of theories surrounding the death of Princess Diana. Journal of Social Psychology, 148(2), 210–222.Google Scholar
Douglas, K. M., Uscinski, J. E., Sutton, R. M., Cichocka, A., Nefes, T., Ang, C. S., & Deravi, F. (2019). Understanding conspiracy theories. Political Psychology, 40, 3–35.Google Scholar
Federico, C. M., Williams, A. L., & Vitriol, J. A. (2018). The role of system identity threat in conspiracy theory endorsement. European Journal of Social Psychology, 48(7), 927–938.Google Scholar
Forsyth, D. R. (2020). Group-level resistance to health mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic: A groupthink approach. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 24(3), 139–152.Google Scholar
Friedman, M., & Rholes, W. S. (2007). Successfully challenging fundamentalists beliefs results in increased death awareness. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 794–801.Google Scholar
Garry, A., Walther, S., Mohamed, R., & Mohamed, A. (2021). QAnon conspiracy theory: Examining its evolution and mechanisms of radicalization. Journal for Deradicalization, 26, 152–216.Google Scholar
Greenberg, J., & Arndt, J. (2011). Terror management theory. In Van Lange, P. A. M., Kruglanski, A. W., & Higgins, E. T. (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (pp. 398–415). Sage.Google Scholar
Hameleers, M., Powell, T. E., Van Der Meer, T. G., & Bos, L. (2020). A picture paints a thousand lies? The effects and mechanisms of multimodal disinformation and rebuttals disseminated via social media. Political Communication, 37(2), 281–301.Google Scholar
Horner, D. E., Sielaff, A., Pyszczynski, T., & Greenberg, J. (in press). Terror management during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In Miller, M. K. (Ed.), The social science of the COVID-19 pandemic: A call to action for researchers. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Itzkowitz, C., Sonmez, F., Wagner, J., & Wang, A. B. (2020, September 30). Debate commission says it will change structure to ensure a “more orderly discussion.” The Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/09/30/trump-biden-live-updates/Google Scholar
Jolley, D., & Douglas, K. M. (2014a). The effects of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories on vaccination intentions. PLoS ONE, 9(2), e89177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jolley, D., & Douglas, K. M. (2014b). The social consequences of conspiracism: Exposure to conspiracy theories decreases intentions to engage in politics and to reduce one’s carbon footprint. British Journal of Psychology, 105(1), 35–56.Google Scholar
Jost, J. T., & Hunyady, O. (2002). The psychology of system justification and the palliative function of ideology. European Review of Social Psychology, 13, 111–153.Google Scholar
Jost, J. T., Banaji, M. R., & Nosek, B. A. (2004). A decade of system justification theory: Accumulated evidence of conscious and unconscious bolstering of the status quo. Political Psychology, 25, 881–919.Google Scholar
Kashima, Y. (2021). COVID-19, societal threats, and social psychology’s self-imposed constraint. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 24(1), 30–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kenes, B. (2021). QAnon: A conspiracy cult or quasi-religion of modern times? European Center for Populism Studies. www.populismstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ECPS-Organisation-Profile-Series-3.pdfGoogle Scholar
LeBoeuf, R. A., & Norton, M. I. (2012). Consequence–cause matching: Looking to the consequences of events to infer their causes. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(1), 128–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levin, B. (2021, February 4). Marjorie Taylor Greene: I only believe some of what QAnon says about Dems being satanic pedophile cannibals, okay? Vanity Fair. www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/02/marjorie-taylor-greene-fake-mea-culpaGoogle Scholar
Lyu, W., & Wehby, G. L. (2020). Community use of face masks and COVID-19: Evidence from a natural experiment of state mandates in the US. Health Affairs, 39(8), 1419–1425.Google Scholar
Mascaro, L., Tucker, E., Jalonick, M. C., & Taylor, A. (2021, January 6). Pro-Trump mob storms US Capitol in bid to overturn election. AP. https://apnews.com/article/congress-confirm-joe-biden-78104aea082995bbd7412a6e6cd13818Google Scholar
Massie, G. (2021, March 19). Lauren Boebert shares QAnon conspiracy claiming Democratic arrests and resignations. The Independent. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/boebert-gop-qanon-congress-democrats-b1819868.htmlGoogle Scholar
Matthews, T., Danese, A., Wertz, J., Odgers, C. L., Ambler, A., Moffitt, T. E., & Arsenault, L. (2016). Social isolation, loneliness and depression in young adulthood: A behavioural genetic analysis. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 5, 339–348.Google Scholar
McCauley, C., & Jacques, S. (1979). The popularity of conspiracy theories of presidential assassination: A Bayesian analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37(5), 637–644.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pantucci, R., & Ong, K. (2021). Persistence of right-wing extremism and terrorism in the West. Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses, 13(1), 118–126.Google Scholar
Paz, C. (2020, November 2). All the President’s lies about the coronavirus. The Atlantic. www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/11/trumps-lies-about-coronavirus/608647/Google Scholar
Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab. (2020, December 15). The QAnon conspiracy: Destroying families, dividing communities, undermining democracy. Network Contagion Research Institute. https://networkcontagion.us/wp-content/uploads/NCRI-%E2%80%93-The-QAnon-Conspiracy-FINAL.pdfGoogle Scholar
Solace Global. (2020, October 20). United States election 2020: A contentious election in an unusual year. Solace Global. www.solaceglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Solace-Advisory-US-Elections-2020-October-2020.pdfGoogle Scholar
The Straits Times. (2020, November 30). QAnon’s rise in Japan shows conspiracy theory’s global spread. The Straits Times – International. www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/qanons-rise-in-japan-shows-conspiracy-theorys-global-spreadGoogle Scholar
Timberg, C., & Dwoskin, E. (2021, March 11). With Trump gone, QAnon groups focus fury on attacking coronavirus vaccines. The Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/11/with-trump-gone-qanon-groups-focus-fury-attacking-covid-vaccines/Google Scholar
Vail, K. E., III, Soenke, M., & Waggoner, B. (2019). Terror management theory and religious belief. In Routledge, C. & Vess, M. (Eds.), Handbook of terror management theory (pp. 259–285). Academic Press.Google Scholar
Van den Bos, K. (2009). Making sense of life: The existential self trying to deal with personal uncertainty. Psychological Inquiry, 20(4), 197–217.Google Scholar
van Prooijen, J. W., & Douglas, K. M. (2017). Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations. Memory Studies, 10(3), 323–333.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Westerman, A. (2020, December 30). In 2020, protests spread across the globe with a similar message: Black Lives Matter. NPR. www.npr.org/2020/12/30/950053607/in-2020-protests-spread-across-the-globe-with-a-similar-message-black-lives-mattGoogle Scholar
Zurcher, A. (2020, February 5). Trump impeachment trial: What acquittal means for 2020 election. BBC News. www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51331363Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×