Arturo Bertero

Arturo Bertero

Computational Social Scientist at the University of Milan

Publications

Peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, reports, and research outputs are listed below in reverse chronological order. You can also find my work on Google Scholar and ORCID.

Searching for the Core of Conspiracy Belief Systems: The Relationship Between Specific Beliefs and Generic Mentality

Published in European Journal of Social Psychology, 2026

Network models of nearly 30,000 respondents in 17 country samples test whether a generic conspiracy mentality organizes belief in specific conspiracy theories, or the reverse.

Recommended citation: Bertero, A., Williams, M., Vegetti, F., & Mancosu, M. (2026). Searching for the Core of Conspiracy Belief Systems: The Relationship Between Specific Beliefs and Generic Mentality. European Journal of Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.70122

Populist Attitudes, Ideology, and Climate Change Beliefs: A Comparative Analysis of Six European Countries

Published in SocietàMutamentoPolitica, 2026

Using an original post-electoral survey of roughly 15,000 respondents in six European countries, the article asks whether the association between populist attitudes and belief in anthropogenic climate change depends on where people place themselves ideologically.

Recommended citation: Mancosu, M., Biancalana, C., Ladini, R., & Bertero, A. (2026). Populist Attitudes, Ideology, and Climate Change Beliefs: A Comparative Analysis of Six European Countries. SocietàMutamentoPolitica, 17(33), 117–130. https://doi.org/10.36253/smp-16840

Conspiracy Theories Are Central to the Complex System of Predictors of Italian Vaccine Hesitancy

Published in Italian Political Science, 2026

Models vaccine hesitancy as a network of interdependent attitudes, dispositions, and sociodemographic characteristics. In this paper, conspiracy beliefs refer specifically to beliefs about the origin of COVID-19 that were considered conspiratorial when the survey was fielded.

Recommended citation: Bertero, A. (2026). Conspiracy Theories Are Central to the Complex System of Predictors of Italian Vaccine Hesitancy. Italian Political Science, 20(3), 239–262. https://doi.org/10.69101/IPS.2025.20.3.3 https://italianpoliticalscience.com/index.php/ips/article/view/295

Support for Populist Parties and Climate Change Attitudes: Evidence from Six Countries in the Aftermath of 2024 European Elections

Published in Conspiracism and Political Conflict, Palgrave Macmillan, 2026

Using post-electoral survey data from approximately 15,000 respondents in six European countries, this chapter examines how support for different types of populist parties relates to concern about climate change and beliefs about its anthropogenic causes.

Recommended citation: Biancalana, C., Mancosu, M., Ladini, R., & Bertero, A. (2026). Support for Populist Parties and Climate Change Attitudes: Evidence from Six Countries in the Aftermath of 2024 European Elections. In M. Caiani, M. Solinas, & H.-J. Trenz (Eds.), Conspiracism and Political Conflict (pp. 131–155). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-13933-7_7

LONELY-EU WP3_1A: Database of Loneliness Datasets in Europe

Published in OSF, 2026

A documented inventory of datasets containing loneliness measures across Europe, developed for the Horizon Europe LONELY-EU project.

Recommended citation: Bertero, A., Growiec, K., Luhmann, M., Tang, Y., & Vezzoni, C. (2026). LONELY-EU WP3_1A: Database of Loneliness Datasets in Europe. OSF. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/3T9KG

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

Published in Italian Political Science, 2026

Presents the comparative SUSPECTS framework for studying the supply, demand, and communication of conspiracy theories across six European countries.

Recommended citation: Mancosu, M., Vassallo, S., Pedrazzani, A., Belluati, M., Ventura, S., Bertero, A., & Sumbul, U. (2026). SUSPECTS: Supply, Demand, and Communication of Conspiracy Theories in Comparative Perspective. Italian Political Science, 20(1), 99–112. https://doi.org/10.69101/IPS.2025.20.1.4

Beyond Constraint: Tightness and Consensus of Political Belief Systems

Published in Italian Political Science Review / Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica, 2025

Reconceptualises ideological organisation beyond constraint by distinguishing the tightness of relations among attitudes from consensus over the structure of those relations.

Recommended citation: Bertero, A. (2025). Beyond Constraint: Tightness and Consensus of Political Belief Systems. Italian Political Science Review / Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1017/ipo.2025.10080

Consolidation and Change: Exploring the Impact of Anger and Network Dynamics on Inequality Belief Systems

Published in Network Science, 2025

Uses network models and simulations on the 2019 ISSP Social Inequality module to show how anger strengthens and polarises US inequality belief systems and how changes in central attitudes can propagate through the system.

Recommended citation: Bertero, A., & Franetovic, G. (2025). Consolidation and Change: Exploring the Impact of Anger and Network Dynamics on Inequality Belief Systems. Network Science, 13, e9. https://doi.org/10.1017/nws.2025.10004

Inequality Belief Systems: What They Look Like, How to Study Them, and Why They Matter

Published in Social Indicators Research, 2024

Introduces inequality belief systems as networks of perceptions, explanations, and judgments, combining Correlational Class Analysis and Exploratory Graph Analysis on original US and Dutch survey data.

Recommended citation: Bertero, A., Franetovic, G., & Mijs, J. J. B. (2024). Inequality Belief Systems: What They Look Like, How to Study Them, and Why They Matter. Social Indicators Research, 174(2), 445–472. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-024-03352-5

How Do People Understand Inequality in Chile? A Study Through Attitude Network Analysis

Published in AWARI, 2023

Applies attitude network analysis to Chilean ISSP data and examines how the organisation of inequality beliefs varies across socioeconomic groups.

Recommended citation: Franetovic, G., & Bertero, A. (2023). How Do People Understand Inequality in Chile? A Study Through Attitude Network Analysis. AWARI, 4, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.47909/awari.42

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Political Communication During the Italian 2022 Electoral Campaign

Published in Italian Journal of Electoral Studies, 2023

Reconstructs the political and communication dynamics of Italy’s unusual 2022 summer election campaign across legacy and social media.

Recommended citation: Bertero, A., & Scaduto, G. (2023). A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Political Communication During the Italian 2022 Electoral Campaign. Italian Journal of Electoral Studies, 86(1), 13–28. https://doi.org/10.36253/qoe-14224

The COVID-19 Related Communication of Italian Politicians and Its Success on Facebook

Published in Current Populism in Europe: Gender-Backlash and Counter-strategies, 2021

Studies how Italian politicians communicated about COVID-19 on Facebook and which forms of communication attracted audience engagement.

Recommended citation: Bertero, A. (2021). The COVID-19 Related Communication of Italian Politicians and Its Success on Facebook. In Current Populism in Europe: Gender-Backlash and Counter-strategies (pp. 79–94). Heinrich Böll Stiftung Prague. ISBN 978-80-88289-26-5. https://openarchive.tk.mta.hu/467/

Italy: Populist in the Mirror, (De)Politicizing the COVID-19 from Government and Opposition

Published in Populism and the Politicization of the COVID-19 Crisis in Europe, 2021

Examines how governing and opposition populists in Italy politicised or depoliticised the COVID-19 crisis.

Recommended citation: Bertero, A., & Seddone, A. (2021). Italy: Populist in the Mirror, (De)Politicizing the COVID-19 from Government and Opposition. In G. Bobba & N. Hubé (Eds.), Populism and the Politicization of the COVID-19 Crisis in Europe (pp. 45–58). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66011-6_4