ArticlePDF Available

Abstract

What psychological factors drive the popularity of conspiracy theories that explain important events as secret plots by powerful and malevolent groups? What are the psychological consequences of adopting these theories? We review the current research, and find that it answers the first of these questions more thoroughly than the second. Belief in conspiracy theories appears to be driven by motives that can be characterized as epistemic (understanding one’s environment), existential (being safe and in control of one’s environment) and social (maintaining a positive image of the self and the social group). However, little research has investigated the consequences of conspiracy belief, and to date, this research does not indicate that conspiracy belief fulfills people’s motivations. Instead, for many people conspiracy belief may be more appealing than satisfying. Further research is needed to determine for whom, and under what conditions, conspiracy theories may satisfy key psychological motives.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417718261
Current Directions in Psychological
Science
2017, Vol. 26(6) 538 –542
© The Author(s) 2017
Reprints and permissions:
sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0963721417718261
www.psychologicalscience.org/CDPS
Over a third of Americans believe that global warming is
a hoax (Swift, 2013), and over half believe that Lee Har-
vey Oswald did not act alone in the assassination of John
F. Kennedy (Jensen, 2013). These are examples of con-
spiracy theories—explanations for important events that
involve secret plots by powerful and malevolent groups
(e.g., Goertzel, 1994). In recent years, there has been
growing interest in the psychological factors that drive
the popularity of conspiracy theories, and in this article,
we draw together and organize findings from this bur-
geoning research. This research suggests that people may
be drawn to conspiracy theories when—compared with
nonconspiracy explanations—they promise to satisfy
important social psychological motives that can be char-
acterized as epistemic (e.g., the desire for understanding,
accuracy, and subjective certainty), existential (e.g., the
desire for control and security), and social (e.g., the
desire to maintain a positive image of the self or group).
This taxonomy, derived from system-justification theory
(Jost, Ledgerwood, & Hardin, 2008), serves as a useful
heuristic to classify the motives associated with conspir-
acy belief. However, the comparatively scarce research
examining the consequences of conspiracy theories does
not indicate that they ultimately help people fulfill these
motives.
Epistemic Motives
Finding causal explanations for events is a core part of
building up a stable, accurate, and internally consistent
understanding of the world (Heider, 1958). Specific epis-
temic motives that causal explanations may serve include
slaking curiosity when information is unavailable, reduc-
ing uncertainty and bewilderment when available infor-
mation is conflicting, finding meaning when events seem
random, and defending beliefs from disconfirmation.
Relevant to these motives, conspiracy theories have attri-
butes that set them apart from other types of causal
explanation. Albeit to varying degrees, they are specula-
tive in that they posit actions that are hidden from public
scrutiny, complex in that they postulate the coordination
of multiple actors, and resistant to falsification in that
they postulate that conspirators use stealth and disinfor-
mation to cover up their actions—implying that people
who try to debunk conspiracy theories may, themselves,
be part of the conspiracy (Lewandowsky etal., 2015).
718261CDPXXX10.1177/0963721417718261Douglas et al.The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories
research-article2017
Corresponding Author:
Karen M. Douglas, School of Psychology, University of Kent,
Canterbury, CT2 7NP, United Kingdom
E-mail: k.douglas@kent.ac.uk
The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories
Karen M. Douglas, Robbie M. Sutton, and
Aleksandra Cichocka
School of Psychology, University of Kent
Abstract
What psychological factors drive the popularity of conspiracy theories, which explain important events as secret plots
by powerful and malevolent groups? What are the psychological consequences of adopting these theories? We review
the current research and find that it answers the first of these questions more thoroughly than the second. Belief in
conspiracy theories appears to be driven by motives that can be characterized as epistemic (understanding one’s
environment), existential (being safe and in control of one’s environment), and social (maintaining a positive image
of the self and the social group). However, little research has investigated the consequences of conspiracy belief, and
to date, this research does not indicate that conspiracy belief fulfills people’s motivations. Instead, for many people,
conspiracy belief may be more appealing than satisfying. Further research is needed to determine for whom, and
under what conditions, conspiracy theories may satisfy key psychological motives.
Keywords
conspiracy theories, conspiracy belief, motives, needs
The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories 539
A related property of conspiracy theories is that they can
protect cherished beliefs (e.g., vaccination is harmful;
climate change is not a serious concern) by casting over-
whelmingly disconfirmatory evidence (e.g., scientific
findings) as the product of a conspiracy (Lewandowsky,
Oberauer, & Gignac, 2013).
In general, empirically warranted (vs. speculative),
parsimonious (vs. complex), and falsifiable explanations
are stronger according to normative standards of causal
explanation (e.g., in science; see Grimes, 2016). However,
conspiracy theories appear to provide broad, internally
consistent explanations that allow people to preserve
beliefs in the face of uncertainty and contradiction. In
keeping with this analysis, research suggests that belief
in conspiracy theories is stronger when the motivation
to find patterns in the environment is experimentally
heightened (Whitson & Galinsky, 2008). It is also stronger
among people who habitually seek meaning and patterns
in the environment, including believers in paranormal
phenomena (e.g., Bruder, Haffke, Neave, Nouripanah, &
Imhoff, 2013; but see Dieguez, Wagner-Egger, & Gauvrit,
2015). It also appears to be stronger when events are
especially large in scale or significant and leave people
dissatisfied with mundane, small-scale explanations
(Leman & Cinnirella, 2013). Furthermore, the need for
cognitive closure is associated with beliefs in salient con-
spiracy theories for events that lack clear official explana-
tions (Marchlewska, Cichocka, & Kossowska, 2017). Also,
research suggests that conspiracy belief is stronger when
people experience distress as a result of feeling uncertain
(van Prooijen & Jostmann, 2013).
Our analysis suggests that conspiracy theories may
satisfy some epistemic motives at the expense of oth-
ers—for example, by shielding beliefs from uncertainty
while being less likely to be accurate. The epistemic
drawbacks of conspiracy theories do not seem to be
readily apparent to people who lack the ability or moti-
vation to think critically and rationally. Conspiracy
belief is correlated with lower levels of analytic thinking
(Swami, Voracek, Stieger, Tran, & Furnham, 2014) and
lower levels of education (Douglas, Sutton, Callan,
Dawtry, & Harvey, 2016). It is also associated with the
tendency to overestimate the likelihood of co-occurring
events (Brotherton & French, 2014) and the tendency
to perceive agency and intentionality where it does not
exist (Douglas etal., 2016).
In light of their objective or normative limitations,
how well do conspiracy theories satisfy the epistemic
motives that draw people to them? Relatively little
research has addressed this question, and it suggests that
they may be more appealing than satisfying. On one
hand, extreme and entrenched attitude positions are
associated with conspiracy beliefs, suggesting that they
may help people defend beliefs from disconfirmation
(Uscinski, Klofstad, & Atkinson, 2016). In contrast, recent
experiments indicate that presenting people with per-
suasive cases for conspiracy theories about vaccination
(Jolley & Douglas, 2014a) and climate change (Jolley &
Douglas, 2014b) increases their levels of uncertainty.
Existential Motives
As well as their purely epistemic purposes, causal
explanations serve the need for people to feel safe and
secure in their environment and to exert control over
the environment as autonomous individuals and as
members of collectives (Tetlock, 2002). Several early
theories of conspiracy belief suggested that people turn
to conspiracy theories for compensatory satisfaction
when these needs are threatened. For example, people
who lack instrumental control may be afforded some
compensatory sense of control by conspiracy theories,
because they offer them the opportunity to reject offi-
cial narratives and feel that they possess an alternative
account (Goertzel, 1994). Conspiracy theories may
promise to make people feel safer as a form of cheater
detection, in which dangerous and untrustworthy indi-
viduals are recognized and the threat they posed is
reduced or neutralized (Bost & Prunier, 2013).
Research supports this account of the motivation
behind conspiracy belief. Studies have shown that peo-
ple are likely to turn to conspiracy theories when they
are anxious (Grzesiak-Feldman, 2013) and feel power-
less (Abalakina-Paap, Stephan, Craig, & Gregory, 1999).
Other research indicates that conspiracy belief is strongly
related to lack of sociopolitical control or lack of psy-
chological empowerment (Bruder etal., 2013). Experi-
ments have shown that compared with baseline conditions,
conspiracy belief is heightened when people feel unable
to control outcomes and is reduced when their sense of
control is affirmed (van Prooijen & Acker, 2015).
Unfortunately, research conducted thus far does not
indicate that conspiracy belief effectively satisfies this
motivation. On the contrary, experimental exposure to
conspiracy theories appears to immediately suppress
people’s sense of autonomy and control (Douglas &
Leite, 2017; Jolley & Douglas, 2014a, 2014b). These
same studies have also shown that it makes people less
inclined to take actions that, in the long run, might
boost their autonomy and control. Specifically, they are
less inclined to commit to their organizations and to
engage in mainstream political processes such as voting
and party politics. Furthermore, exposure to conspiracy
theories may subtly undermine people’s autonomy in
another way. Douglas and Sutton (2008) showed that
people were effectively persuaded by proconspiracy
material but were not aware that they had been per-
suaded and falsely recalled that their preexposure
beliefs were identical to their new beliefs. Since con-
spiracy theories suggest that important outcomes are
540 Douglas et al.
in the hands of malevolent forces who possess and
exercise powers beyond legitimate limits, it would not
be surprising if further research suggests that their
effect is often disempowering.
Social Motives
Causal explanations, conspiracy explanations included,
are also informed by various social motivations, includ-
ing the desire to belong and to maintain a positive
image of the self and the in-group. Scholars have sug-
gested that conspiracy theories valorize the self and the
in-group by allowing blame for negative outcomes to be
attributed to others. Thus, they may help to uphold the
image of the self and the in-group as competent and
moral but as sabotaged by powerful and unscrupulous
others. If this is the case, we can expect conspiracy theo-
ries to be particularly appealing to people who find the
positive image of their self or in-group to be threatened
(Cichocka, Marchlewska, & Golec de Zavala, 2016).
Research generally supports this expectation. Experi-
mental results suggest that experiences of ostracism
cause people to believe in superstitions and conspiracy
theories, apparently as part of an effort to make sense
of their experience (Graeupner & Coman, 2017). Mem-
bers of groups who have objectively low (vs. high)
status because of their ethnicity (Crocker, Luhtanen,
Broadnax, & Blaine, 1999) or income (Uscinski & Parent,
2014) are more likely to endorse conspiracy theories.
People on the losing (vs. winning) side of political pro-
cesses also appear more likely to believe conspiracy
theories (Uscinski & Parent, 2014). Conspiracy belief has
also been linked to prejudice against powerful groups
(Imhoff & Bruder, 2014) and those perceived as enemies
(Kofta & Sedek, 2005).
These findings suggest that conspiracy theories may
be recruited defensively, to relieve the self or in-group
from a sense of culpability for their disadvantaged posi-
tion. In keeping with this defensive motivation, con-
spiracy belief is associated with narcissism—an inflated
view of oneself that requires external validation and is
linked to paranoid ideation (Cichocka, Marchlewska, &
Golec de Zavala, 2016). Conspiracy belief is also pre-
dicted by collective narcissism—a belief in the in-group’s
greatness paired with a belief that other people do not
appreciate it enough (Cichocka, Marchlewska, Golec de
Zavala, & Olechowski, 2016). Groups who feel that they
have been victimized are more likely to endorse con-
spiracy theories about powerful out-groups (Bilewicz,
Winiewski, Kofta, & Wójcik, 2013).
Although people are clearly attracted to conspiracy
theories when their social motivations are frustrated, it
is not at all clear that adopting these theories is a fruitful
way to fulfill these motivations. A feature of conspiracy
theories is their negative, distrustful representation of
other people and groups. Thus, it is plausible that they
are not only a symptom but also a cause of the feelings
of alienation and anomie—a feeling of personal unrest
and lack of understanding of the social world—with
which they are correlated (e.g., Abalakina-Paap etal.,
1999). Experiments show that exposure to conspiracy
theories decreases trust in governmental institutions,
even if the conspiracy theories are unrelated to those
institutions (Einstein & Glick, 2015). It also causes dis-
enchantment with politicians and scientists (Jolley &
Douglas, 2014a). So far, therefore, empirical research
suggests that conspiracy theories serve to erode social
capital and may, if anything, frustrate people’s need to
see themselves as valuable members of morally decent
collectives.
Summary, Caveats, and Future
Research
Research thus far has successfully articulated some of
the motivations that, together with deficiencies in avail-
able information, cognitive ability, and motivation to
think critically, may contribute to conspiracy belief.
Although scholars have theorized about the conse-
quences of conspiracy beliefs for their adherents and the
community, relatively little empirical research has been
done to explore them. Nevertheless, preliminary work
suggests that despite the allure of conspiracy beliefs for
people who have heightened epistemic, existential, and
social motives, they may ultimately thwart those motives
further. In this sense, conspiracy theories might be seen
as an ironic or self-defeating manifestation of motivated
social cognition. There are grounds to expect further
research to corroborate this preliminary picture since, as
we have seen, conspiracy theories have some attributes
that do not lend themselves to the fulfillment of these
motives—for example, they are generally speculative and
contrarian, represent the public as ignorant and at the
mercy of unaccountable powers, and impute highly anti-
social and cynical motives to other individuals.
Nonetheless, there are also grounds to expect future
research to show that conspiracy theories fulfill the
needs of some people. The experimental research con-
ducted thus far has sampled from populations (under-
graduate students and survey panelists) that are not
particularly disadvantaged or threatened and that gen-
erally do not endorse conspiracy theories. For these
people, conspiracy theories are likely to be experienced
as unsettling, destabilizing, and potentially alienating.
However, these people are not whom scholars have
had in mind when they have argued that conspiracy
theories may sometimes be adaptive. They include
groups and individuals who are already alienated from
society and for whom conspiracy theories may offer
some compensation. These include disempowered
The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories 541
groups who may use conspiracy theories to subvert
dominance hierarchies by formulating their own under-
standing of realities (Sapountzis & Condor, 2013) and
by fostering solidarity and collective action (Adams,
O’Brien, & Nelson, 2006). In these communities, and
indeed in online communities in which conspiracy
theories represent normative or even official positions
(e.g., the 9/11 Truth movement), conspiracy belief may
offer an important source of belonging and shared real-
ity. Furthermore, history has repeatedly shown that
corporate and political elites do conspire against public
interests. Conspiracy theories play an important role in
bringing their misdeeds into the light.
To conduct fair tests of the utility of conspiracy belief,
controlled longitudinal and experimental investigations
of disadvantaged and threatened populations are
needed. In particular, future research needs to examine
individuals whose psychological needs are chronically
or experimentally threatened and determine whether
conspiracy belief moves them closer to or further away
from the fulfillment of these needs. In one such design,
Jolley, Douglas, and Sutton (2017) exposed people to
threats to the legitimacy of their social system. They
found that the deleterious effects of these threats on
satisfaction with the status quo were eliminated when
participants were also exposed to conspiracy theories.
Conspiracy theories therefore appeared to buffer people
from the effects of threats to the status quo.
Conclusion
We have reviewed the current literature on the psycho-
logical factors that appear to drive conspiracy belief.
We conclude that conspiracy belief appears to stem to
a large extent from epistemic, existential, and social
motives. Research has yet to demonstrate that it effec-
tively serves those motivations, and early indications
are that it may often thwart them. It is possible, there-
fore, that conspiracy belief is a self-defeating form of
motivated social cognition. However, important ques-
tions remain open, and more controlled research on
the consequences of conspiracy beliefs is needed, par-
ticularly on the vulnerable and disadvantaged popula-
tions that have been identified as most likely to benefit
from them. We hope that this review will serve as an
organizing schema for future research on the psychol-
ogy of conspiracy belief.
Recommended Reading
Bilewicz, M., Cichocka, A., & Soral, W. (Eds.). (2015). The
psychology of conspiracy. New York, NY: Routledge. A
comprehensive collection of empirical and review chap-
ters by leading researchers on the psychology of con-
spiracy theories.
Brotherton, R. (2015). Suspicious minds: Why we believe con-
spiracy theories. London, England: Bloomsbury. A book on
the psychology of conspiracy theories that was written by
an academic psychologist for a general audience.
Goertzel, T. (1994). (See References). A classic in the con-
spiracy-theory literature.
Sapountzis, A., & Condor, S. (2013). (See References). A
sympathetic perspective on conspiracy theories and their
value in constructing alternative accounts of reality.
Uscinski, J. E., & Parent, J. M. (2014). (See References). A
sustained and empirically informed analysis of conspiracy
theories and politics.
Wood, M., Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2012). Dead and
alive: Beliefs in contradictory conspiracy theories. Social
Psychological & Personality Science, 3, 767–773. A highly
cited recent article that has been influential in under-
standing the cognitive underpinnings of conspiracy belief.
Acknowledgments
We thank the editor and four reviewers for their helpful
comments on this article.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared that there were no conflicts of interest
with respect to the authorship or the publication of this
article.
Funding
This work was funded by the Centre for Research and Evi-
dence on Security Threats (Economic and Social Research
Council Award ES/N009614/1).
References
Abalakina-Paap, M., Stephan, W. G., Craig, T., & Gregory,
L. (1999). Beliefs in conspiracies. Political Psychology,
20, 637–647.
Adams, G., O’Brien, L. T., & Nelson, J. C. (2006). Perceptions
of racism in Hurricane Katrina: A liberation psychology
analysis. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 6,
215–235.
Bilewicz, M., Winiewski, M., Kofta, M., & Wójcik, A. (2013).
Harmful ideas: The structure and consequences of anti-
Semitic beliefs in Poland. Political Psychology, 34, 821–839.
Bost, P. R., & Prunier, S. G. (2013). Rationality in conspir-
acy beliefs: The role of perceived motive. Psychological
Reports, 113, 118–128.
Brotherton, R., & French, C. C. (2014). Belief in conspiracy
theories and susceptibility to the conjunction fallacy.
Applied Cognitive Psychology, 28, 238–248.
Bruder, M., Haffke, P., Neave, N., Nouripanah, N., & Imhoff,
R. (2013). Measuring individual differences in generic
beliefs in conspiracy theories across cultures: Conspiracy
Mentality Questionnaire. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, Article
225. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00225
Cichocka, A., Marchlewska, M., & Golec de Zavala, A.
(2016). Does self-love or self-hate predict conspiracy
beliefs? Narcissism, self-esteem, and the endorsement of
542 Douglas et al.
conspiracy theories. Social Psychological & Personality
Science, 7, 157–166.
Cichocka, A., Marchlewska, M., Golec de Zavala, A., &
Olechowski, M. (2016). “They will not control us”:
In-group positivity and belief in intergroup conspiracies.
British Journal of Psychology, 107, 556–576.
Crocker, J., Luhtanen, R., Broadnax, S., & Blaine, B. E. (1999).
Belief in U.S. government conspiracies against Blacks
among Black and White college students: Powerlessness
or system blame? Personality and Social Psychology
Bulletin, 25, 941–953.
Dieguez, S., Wagner-Egger, P., & Gauvrit, N. (2015). Nothing
happens by accident, or does it? A low prior for ran-
domness does not explain belief in conspiracy theories.
Psychological Science, 26, 1762–1770.
Douglas, K. M., & Leite, A. C. (2017). Suspicion in the work-
place: Organizational conspiracy theories and work-
related outcomes. British Journal of Psychology, 108,
486–506.
Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2008). The hidden impact
of conspiracy theories: Perceived and actual impact of
theories surrounding the death of Princess Diana. Journal
of Social Psychology, 148, 210–221.
Douglas, K. M., Sutton, R. M., Callan, M. J., Dawtry, R. J.,
& Harvey, A. J. (2016). Someone is pulling the strings:
Hypersensitive agency detection and belief in conspiracy
theories. Thinking & Reasoning, 22, 57–77.
Einstein, K. L., & Glick, D. M. (2015). Do I think BLS data are
BS? The consequences of conspiracy theories. Political
Behavior, 37, 679–701.
Goertzel, T. (1994). Belief in conspiracy theories. Political
Psychology, 15, 731–742.
Graeupner, D., & Coman, A. (2017). The dark side of mean-
ing-making: How social exclusion leads to superstitious
thinking. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 69,
218–222.
Grimes, D. R. (2016). On the viability of conspiratorial beliefs.
PLOS ONE, 11(3), Article e0151003. doi:10.1371/journal
.pone.0147905
Grzesiak-Feldman, M. (2013). The effect of high-anxiety situ-
ations on conspiracy thinking. Current Psychology, 32,
100–118.
Heider, F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations.
New York, NY: John Wiley.
Imhoff, R., & Bruder, M. (2014). Speaking (un-)truth to power:
Conspiracy mentality as a generalised political attitude.
European Journal of Personality, 28, 25–43.
Jensen, T. (2013). Democrats and Republicans differ on
conspiracy theory beliefs. Retrieved from http://www
.publicpolicypolling.com/polls/democrats-and-republicans-
differ-on-conspiracy-theory-beliefs/
Jolley, D., & Douglas, K. M. (2014a). The effects of anti-
vaccine conspiracy theories on vaccination intentions.
PLOS ONE, 9(2), Article e89177. doi:10.1371/journal
.pone.0089177
Jolley, D., & Douglas, K. M. (2014b). The social conse-
quences of conspiracism: Exposure to conspiracy theo-
ries decreases the intention to engage in politics and
to reduce one’s carbon footprint. British Journal of
Psychology, 105, 35–56.
Jolley, D., Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2017). Blaming
a few bad apples to save a threatened barrel: The sys-
tem-justifying function of conspiracy theories. Political
Psychology. Advance online publication. doi:10.1111/
pops.12404
Jost, J. T., Ledgerwood, A., & Hardin, C. D. (2008). Shared
reality, system justification, and the relational basis of ide-
ological beliefs. Social & Personality Psychology Compass,
2, 171–186.
Kofta, M., & Sedek, G. (2005). Conspiracy stereotypes of Jews
during systemic transformation in Poland. International
Journal of Sociology, 35, 40–64.
Leman, P. J., & Cinnirella, M. (2013). Beliefs in conspiracy
theories and the need for cognitive closure. Frontiers in
Psychology, 4, Article 378. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00378
Lewandowsky, S., Cook, J., Oberauer, K., Brophy, S., Lloyd,
E. A., & Marriott, M. (2015). Recurrent fury: Conspiratorial
discourse in the blogosphere triggered by research on the
role of conspiracist ideation in climate denial. Journal of
Social and Political Psychology, 3, 142–178.
Lewandowsky, S., Oberauer, K., & Gignac, G. E. (2013). NASA
faked the moon landing—Therefore, (climate) science is
a hoax: An anatomy of the motivated rejection of science.
Psychological Science, 24, 622–633.
Marchlewska, M., Cichocka, A., & Kossowska, M. (2017).
Addicted to answers: Need for cognitive closure and the
endorsement of conspiracy beliefs. European Journal
of Social Psychology. Advance online publication.
doi:10.1002/ejsp.2308
Sapountzis, A., & Condor, S. (2013). Conspiracy accounts as
intergroup theories: Challenging dominant understand-
ings of social power and political legitimacy. Political
Psychology, 43, 731–752.
Swami, V., Voracek, M., Stieger, S., Tran, U. S., & Furnham,
A. (2014). Analytic thinking reduces belief in conspiracy
theories. Cognition, 133, 572–585.
Swift, A. (2013). Majority in U.S. still believe JFK killed in
a conspiracy. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/
poll/165893/majority-believe-jfk-killed-conspiracy.aspx
Tetlock, P. E. (2002). Social-functionalist frameworks for judg-
ment and choice: The intuitive politician, theologian, and
prosecutor. Psychological Review, 109, 451–472.
Uscinski, J. E., Klofstad, C., & Atkinson, M. D. (2016). What
drives conspiratorial beliefs? The role of informational cues
and predispositions. Political Research Quarterly, 69, 57–71.
Uscinski, J. E., & Parent, J. M. (2014). American conspiracy
theories. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
van Prooijen, J.-W., & Acker, M. (2015). The influence of control
on belief in conspiracy theories: Conceptual and applied
extensions. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 29, 753–761.
van Prooijen, J.-W., & Jostmann, N. B. (2013). Belief in conspiracy
theories: The influence of uncertainty and perceived moral-
ity. European Journal of Social Psychology, 43, 109–115.
Whitson, J. A., & Galinsky, A. D. (2008). Lacking control
increases illusory pattern perception. Science, 322,
115–117.
... People who believe in conspiracy theories adhere to explanations for societal events that allege secret plots carried out by powerful groups with bad intentions (e.g., Douglas et al., 2017). Conspiracy mentality denotes the general propensity to believe in conspiracy theories and is characterized by prejudice against (political) elites and authorities as well as the questioning existing power structures in society (Imhoff & Bruder, 2014). ...
Article
Full-text available
Right‐wing movements across the globe call for system‐changing actions. This development contradicts the typically assumed resistance to change among the political right. Many of these movements use conspiracist rhetoric and, thus, we reasoned that conspiracy mentality might be associated with the striving for system change—especially on the political right. In four cross‐sectional studies in Germany (one nationally quota‐balanced, one preregistered; total N = 1539) we found that high conspiracy mentality was related to support for social change among the right and to support for reactionary social change among the left. Support for change among those high in conspiracy mentality was diminished when elected representatives (vs the population) were thought to drive social change. These results suggest that both right wingers and left wingers high in conspiracy mentality support change in ways that are seemingly incompatible with their political orientation.
Article
Conspiracy theories allege secret plots between two or more powerful actors to achieve an outcome, sometimes explaining important events or proposing alternative understandings of reality in opposition to mainstream accounts, and commonly highlight the threat presented by the plot and its conspirators. Research in psychology proposes that belief in conspiracy theories is motivated by a desire to understand threats and is predicted by increased anxiety. Morbid curiosity describes the tendency to seek out information about threatening or dangerous situations and is associated with an interest in threat‐related entertainment and increased anxiety. Across three studies, we investigated the relationship between morbid curiosity and conspiracy theories in US‐based samples. We found that higher trait morbid curiosity was associated with higher general conspiracist beliefs (Study 1) and the perceived threat of conspiratorial explanations of events (Study 2). Using a behavioural choice paradigm, we found that participants who chose to investigate morbidly curious stimuli were more likely to choose to learn about conspiratorial explanations for events (Study 3). Greater curiosity about the minds of dangerous people was consistently the strongest predictor of conspiratorial ideation and interest. These results suggest that morbid curiosity is an important but hitherto unstudied predictor of conspiratorial interest and belief.
Article
It is conceivable that not immunizing a child endangers both the child and others. If an outbreak occurs, the unvaccinated child is at risk. Smallpox, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, yellow fever, measles, and polio are some diseases that have been successfully controlled through vaccines. Vaccines have also played a crucial role in avoiding several illnesses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have recommended and demonstrated the safety and efficacy of these vaccinations. The number of doses required to provide optimal vaccination protection is a crucial component in determining the efficacy of a vaccine. Vaccines against infectious diseases have been shown to be successful throughout history, and several studies have demonstrated their safety and efficacy. However, the number of children who do not get vaccines is increasing. There are several reasons why parents choose not to vaccinate their children, including health concerns, financial restrictions, religious convictions, and a lack of faith in science and immunizations. This review begins with the methodology of conducting a literature search to obtain relevant data for the study. Google Scholar, PubMed, CINAHL, ScienceDirect, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were used as search databases. The entire review has three parts, such as vaccines from the past to the present, reasons for avoiding vaccines, and the problem of non-vaccination. An organized search strategy was employed to collect literature from PubMed, CINAHL, and Google Scholar. Boolean operators (AND/OR) were used to extract relevant publications. Publications were retrieved after applying certain filters, such as a time frame of ten years, full text availability, English language, and studies involving human subjects. For theoretical literature, the PMC library and Pakinet were searched. Subsequently, some studies were excluded based on irrelevance after reading the abstract and full article and checking for duplication. Most of the studies included in the review were conducted in Western countries, with a few from Asia and one from Pakistan. The literature search utilized the MESH typology.
Chapter
QAnon has emerged as the defining conspiracy group of our times, and its far-right conspiracies are extraordinary for their breadth and extremity. Bringing together scholars from psychology, sociology, communications, and political science, this cutting-edge volume uses social science theory to investigate aspects of QAnon. Following an introduction to the 'who, what, and why' of QAnon, Part I focuses on the psychological characteristics of QAnon followers and the group's methods for recruiting and maintaining these followers. Part II includes chapters at the intersection of QAnon and society, arguing that society has constructed QAnon as a threat and the social need to belong motivates its followers. Part III discusses the role of communication in promoting and limiting QAnon support, while Part IV concludes by considering the future of QAnon. The Social Science of QAnon is vital reading for scholars and students across the social sciences, and for legal and policy professionals.
Chapter
QAnon has emerged as the defining conspiracy group of our times, and its far-right conspiracies are extraordinary for their breadth and extremity. Bringing together scholars from psychology, sociology, communications, and political science, this cutting-edge volume uses social science theory to investigate aspects of QAnon. Following an introduction to the 'who, what, and why' of QAnon, Part I focuses on the psychological characteristics of QAnon followers and the group's methods for recruiting and maintaining these followers. Part II includes chapters at the intersection of QAnon and society, arguing that society has constructed QAnon as a threat and the social need to belong motivates its followers. Part III discusses the role of communication in promoting and limiting QAnon support, while Part IV concludes by considering the future of QAnon. The Social Science of QAnon is vital reading for scholars and students across the social sciences, and for legal and policy professionals.
Chapter
QAnon has emerged as the defining conspiracy group of our times, and its far-right conspiracies are extraordinary for their breadth and extremity. Bringing together scholars from psychology, sociology, communications, and political science, this cutting-edge volume uses social science theory to investigate aspects of QAnon. Following an introduction to the 'who, what, and why' of QAnon, Part I focuses on the psychological characteristics of QAnon followers and the group's methods for recruiting and maintaining these followers. Part II includes chapters at the intersection of QAnon and society, arguing that society has constructed QAnon as a threat and the social need to belong motivates its followers. Part III discusses the role of communication in promoting and limiting QAnon support, while Part IV concludes by considering the future of QAnon. The Social Science of QAnon is vital reading for scholars and students across the social sciences, and for legal and policy professionals.
Chapter
QAnon has emerged as the defining conspiracy group of our times, and its far-right conspiracies are extraordinary for their breadth and extremity. Bringing together scholars from psychology, sociology, communications, and political science, this cutting-edge volume uses social science theory to investigate aspects of QAnon. Following an introduction to the 'who, what, and why' of QAnon, Part I focuses on the psychological characteristics of QAnon followers and the group's methods for recruiting and maintaining these followers. Part II includes chapters at the intersection of QAnon and society, arguing that society has constructed QAnon as a threat and the social need to belong motivates its followers. Part III discusses the role of communication in promoting and limiting QAnon support, while Part IV concludes by considering the future of QAnon. The Social Science of QAnon is vital reading for scholars and students across the social sciences, and for legal and policy professionals.
Chapter
Full-text available
Verschwörungstheorien sind problematisch, weil sie destruktive Kräfte bündeln und freisetzen. Das hat sich nicht nur in der Geschichte immer wieder gezeigt – etwa bei Hexenverfolgungen oder antisemitischen Pogromen –, sondern manifestiert sich auch in der Gegenwart. Verschwörungstheorien sind in ihrer Destruktivität aber gleichzeitig auch informativ. Sie sind informativ, weil sie uns etwas über die Bedürfnisstruktur der Individuen verraten, die ihnen anhängen. Und sie sind informativ, weil das Erfülltsein oder Nicht-Erfülltsein von Bedürfnissen uns nicht nur etwas über einzelne Personen sagt, sondern auch über die Gesellschaften, in denen diese Personen leben. In diesem Sinne können Verschwörungstheorien als ein Indikator für Bruchstellen und Imbalancen innerhalb eines sozialen Gesamtgefüges gelesen werden. Diese These gewinnt insbesondere auch dann an Plausibilität, wenn man einen Blick in die Geschichte wirft und dabei feststellt, dass der Glaube an Verschwörungstheorien vielleicht eine anthropologische Konstante sein mag, dass deren konkrete Ausformung aber zeitabhängig und kulturgebunden ist. Mit anderen Worten: Verschwörungstheorien sind ein Zerrspiegel der Gegenwart. Wenn wir diese Gegenwart besser verstehen wollen, tun wir deshalb gut daran, Verschwörungstheorien als Symptom einer tieferliegenden Problematik ernst zu nehmen und sie nicht als den privaten Humbug Einzelner abzutun.
Article
Full-text available
This research demonstrates that conspiracy theories—often represented as subversive alternatives to establishment narratives—may bolster, rather than undermine, support for the social status quo when its legitimacy is under threat. A pilot study (N = 98) found a positive relationship between conspiracy belief and satisfaction with the status quo. In Study 1 (N = 120), threatening (vs. affirming) the status quo in British society caused participants to endorse conspiracy theories. In Study 2 (N = 159), exposure to conspiracy theories increased satisfaction with the British social system after this had been experimentally threatened. In Study 3 (N = 109), this effect was mediated by the tendency for participants exposed (vs. not exposed) to conspiracy theories to attribute societal problems relatively more strongly to small groups of people rather than systemic causes. By blaming tragedies, disasters, and social problems on the actions of a malign few, conspiracy theories can divert attention from the inherent limitations of social systems.
Article
Full-text available
Belief in conspiracy theories about societal events is widespread and has important consequences for political, health and environmental behaviour. Little is known, however, about how conspiracy theorising affects people’s everyday working lives. In the present research, we predicted that belief in conspiracy theories about the workplace would be associated with increased turnover intentions. We further hypothesised that belief in these organizational conspiracy theories would predict decreased organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. Finally, we hypothesised that these factors would mediate the relationship between organizational conspiracy theories and turnover intentions. In three studies (one correlational and two experiments, Ns = 209, 119, 202), we found support for these hypotheses. The current studies therefore demonstrate the potentially adverse consequences of conspiracy theorising for the workplace. We argue that managers and employees should be careful not to dismiss conspiracy theorising as harmless rumour or gossip.
Article
Full-text available
Conspiratorial ideation is the tendency of individuals to believe that events and power relations are secretly manipulated by certain clandestine groups and organisations. Many of these ostensibly explanatory conjectures are non-falsifiable, lacking in evidence or demonstrably false, yet public acceptance remains high. Efforts to convince the general public of the validity of medical and scientific findings can be hampered by such narratives, which can create the impression of doubt or disagreement in areas where the science is well established. Conversely, historical examples of exposed conspiracies do exist and it may be difficult for people to differentiate between reasonable and dubious assertions. In this work, we establish a simple mathematical model for conspiracies involving multiple actors with time, which yields failure probability for any given conspiracy. Parameters for the model are estimated from literature examples of known scandals, and the factors influencing conspiracy success and failure are explored. The model is also used to estimate the likelihood of claims from some commonly-held conspiratorial beliefs; these are namely that the moon-landings were faked, climate-change is a hoax, vaccination is dangerous and that a cure for cancer is being suppressed by vested interests. Simulations of these claims predict that intrinsic failure would be imminent even with the most generous estimates for the secret-keeping ability of active participants—the results of this model suggest that large conspiracies (≥1000 agents) quickly become untenable and prone to failure. The theory presented here might be useful in counteracting the potentially deleterious consequences of bogus and anti-science narratives, and examining the hypothetical conditions under which sustainable conspiracy might be possible.
Article
Full-text available
Why do people believe in conspiracy theories? This study breaks from much previous research and attempts to explain conspiratorial beliefs with traditional theories of opinion formation. Specifically, we focus on the reception of informational cues given a set of predispositions (political and conspiratorial). We begin with observational survey data to show that there exists a unique predisposition that drives individuals to one degree or another to believe in conspiracy theories. This predisposition appears orthogonal to partisanship and predicts political behaviors including voter participation. Then a national survey experiment is used to test the effect of an informational cue on belief in a conspiracy theory while accounting for both conspiratorial predispositions and partisanship. Our results provide an explanation for individual-level heterogeneity in the holding of conspiratorial beliefs and also indicate the conditions under which information can drive conspiratorial beliefs.
Article
Full-text available
Across three studies, we examined the role of self-evaluation in predicting conspiracy beliefs. Previous research linked the endorsement of conspiracy theories to low self-esteem. We propose that conspiracy theories should rather be appealing to individuals with exaggerated feelings of self-love, such as narcissists, due to their paranoid tendencies. In Study 1 general conspiracist beliefs were predicted by high individual narcissism but low self-esteem. Study 2 demonstrated that these effects were differentially mediated by paranoid thoughts, and independent of the effects of collective narcissism. Individual narcissism predicted generalized conspiracist beliefs, regardless of the conspiracy theories implicating in-group or out-group members, while collective narcissism predicted belief in out-group but not in-group conspiracies. Study 3 replicated the effects of individual narcissism and self-esteem on the endorsement of various specific conspiracy theories and demonstrated that the negative effect of self-esteem was largely accounted for by the general negativity towards humans associated with low self-esteem.
Article
Full-text available
This research examines the role of different forms of positive regard for the in-group in predicting beliefs in intergroup conspiracies. Collective narcissism reflects a belief in in-group greatness contingent on others’ recognition. We hypothesized that collective narcissism should be especially likely to foster out-group conspiracy beliefs. Positive yet non-narcissistic in-group positivity should predict a weaker tendency to believe in conspiracy theories. In Study 1 the endorsement of conspiratorial explanations of out-group actions was positively predicted by collective narcissism but negatively by non-narcissistic in-group positivity. Study 2 showed that the opposite effects of collective narcissism and non-narcissistic in-group positivity on conspiracy beliefs were mediated via differential perceptions of threat. Study 3 manipulated whether conspiracy theories implicated in-group or out-group members. Collective narcissism predicted belief in out-group conspiracies but not in-group conspiracies, while non-narcissistic in-group positivity predicted lower conspiracy beliefs, regardless of them being ascribed to the in-group or the out-group.
Article
Conspiracy theories offer simple answers to complex problems by providing explanations for uncertain situations. Thus, they should be attractive to individuals who are intolerant of uncertainty and seek cognitive closure. We hypothesized that need for cognitive closure (NFCC) should foster conspiracy beliefs about events that lack clear official explanations, especially when conspiracy theories are temporarily salient. In Experiment 1 NFCC positively predicted the endorsement of a conspiracy theory behind the refugee crisis, especially when conspiratorial explanations were made salient. Experiment 2 showed that when conspiratorial explanations were made salient, NFCC positively predicted beliefs in conspiracies behind a mysterious plane crash. However, the link between NFCC and beliefs in conspiratorial explanations was reversed in the case of a plane crash with an official, non-conspiratorial, explanation for the accident. In conclusion, people high (vs. low) in NFCC seize on conspiratorial explanations for uncertain events when such explanations are situationally accessible.
Article
This paper tests a meaning-making model of conspiratorial thinking by considering how one's search for meaning mediates between social exclusion and the endorsement of conspiratorial (Study 1) and superstitious (Study 2) beliefs. In Study 1, participants first wrote about a self-selected personal event that involved a social interaction, they then indicated how socially excluded they felt after the event, and, finally, they rated their endorsement of three well-known conspiracy theories. In Study 2, participants were randomly assigned to a Social Inclusion, a Social Exclusion, or a Control condition, after which they indicated the association between improbable events in three scenarios. In addition, both studiesmechanistically tested the relation between social exclusion and conspiratorial/superstitious thinking by measuring the participants' tendency to search for meaning. Both Study 1 (correlational) and Study 2 (experimental) offer support for the hypothesis that social exclusion is associated with superstitious/conspiratorial beliefs. One's search for meaning, correlational analyses revealed, mediated this relation.We discuss the implication of the findings for community-wide belief dynamics and we propose that social inclusion could be used to diminish the dissemination of superstitious beliefs and conspiracy theories.