Working on right-wing extremism and Islamism, conspiracy theories have been an important part of my research since 2020. I co-authored two papers on conspiracy mentality (see below), I taught a class on conspiracy belief at Leipzig University in 2024, and I recently presented a paper on the relationship between conspiracy mentality, esotericism, and religiosity at the international TaCT-FoRSED conference “Engaging with Conspiracy Theories, Fostering Democracy” in Prague in April.

Relevant publications

I am a social psychologist whose work has explored how conspiracy beliefs emerge, their societal impact, and how to reduce their harm.

Pickel, Gert/Schneider, Verena/Pickel, Susanne/Öztürk, Cemal/Decker, Oliver (2023): Religiosität, Religion und Verschwörungsmentalität in der Covid-19-Pandemie. In: Zeitschrift für Religion, Gesellschaft und Politik 7 (2): 553–587. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41682-023-00163-2.

Pickel, Gert/Öztürk, Cemal/Schneider, Verena/Pickel, Susanne/Decker, Oliver (2022): Covid-19-Related Conspiracy Myths, Beliefs, and Democracy-Endangering Consequences. In: Politics and Governance 10 (4): 177–191.https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v10i4.5798.