Search results
- At the core of every conspiracy theory is the idea that a powerful person, or group of people, is secretly hatching a dastardly scheme.
www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/202011/the-mind-conspiracy-theorist
People also ask
What does a conspiracy theorist believe?
What are the quirks of conspiracy theory?
Should you follow a conspiracy theory?
Why do people share in a conspiracy theory?
Nov 3, 2020 · At the core of every conspiracy theory is the idea that a powerful person, or group of people, is secretly hatching a dastardly scheme. Almost anything that makes...
- What Makes People Believe in Conspiracy Theories?
Why are people drawn to conspiracy theories? What are they...
- What Makes People Believe in Conspiracy Theories?
- Overview
- What Is a Conspiracy Theory?
- Why Do People Believe Conspiracy Theories?
- How Evolutionary Psychologists Explain Conspiracy Theories
- Consequences of Conspiracy Theories
- Modern Example: COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories
- Historical Examples of Conspiracy Theories
- Summary
Trending Videos
At a Glance
Conspiracy theories have come up throughout history, and some people are more likely to believe them than others. The damage caused by the perpetuation of misinformation can have serious social consequences.
A conspiracy theory is defined as a theory that rejects the standard explanation for an event and instead credits a covert group or organization with carrying out a secret plot.
Chances are, you can think of at least one conspiracy theory you’ve heard about. For example, one in three Americans believe that global warming is a hoax. A full 49% of New Yorkers believe that the United States government was complicit in the 9/11 attacks. Over 50% of Americans believe that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Approximately 37% of Americans believe that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is deliberately keeping the public from getting natural cures for cancer.
Why do people believe these theories? And how do they keep spreading even when they’re debunked? In this article, we’ll talk about what conspiracy theories are, how they happen, and look at some well-known examples of conspiracy theories.
Conspiracy theories are incredibly widespread and seem to be a part of all modern and traditional societies. Research has yet to identify a culture that does not hold some sort of conspiracy beliefs.
Even though they seem to be all around us, social scientists don’t agree on what constitutes a conspiracy theory. They have agreed on a few key elements of a conspiracy theory. A study of the psychology of conspiracy theories broke them down into five major elements:
A study of the psychology of conspiracy theories broke them down into five major elements:
•An assumption of how people and events are causally interconnected or form some pattern.
•The conspirators are intentional in their actions.
•A group of dishonest, bad actors are working in conjunction toward a goal (lone wolf explanations do not meet the definition of a conspiracy theory)
Research suggests that people who feel ostracized or lack a sense of belonging are more likely to believe in conspiracies. People who feel that their status is threatened or who have a lower income are also prone to believing conspiracies.
In today’s world, social media, increased news consumption, and the confusion that came with the COVID-19 pandemic have created the perfect environment for conspiracies to take shape and spread.
We hear about people spreading conspiracy theories often, but there is no evidence that there are more conspiracy theories today compared to other historical periods—there are just more ways to spread conspiracy theories today than there were in the past. Any idea, regardless of how baseless it is, can easily travel at the speed of Wi-Fi.
The Internet, social media, and online news sources can disseminate any opinion. Since social media platforms in particular are designed to optimize user engagement, customers are fed specific content based on their interest in a belief system. It doesn’t take long before there are two or more streams of information running side-by-side that show different interpretations of the same events.
Since conspiracy theories usually center on the idea that powerful groups are taking secretive actions hidden from the public, they can be extremely difficult to disprove. A conspiracy theorist is likely to believe that any person who tries to debunk a theory is “in on it”—that is, they’re a part of the conspiracy themselves.
Conspiracy theories take advantage of some of the most basic characteristics of being human. The human mind is always trying to find patterns and make sense of its environment. Humans are also always looking for people with whom they feel connected. Conspiracy theories tap into all these human traits and offer us explanations about the world that can make us feel safer as we attempt to navigate living in it.
Some experts argue that it would have been an evolutionary advantage for early humans to find ways to manage their fears about things that posed a risk in their environment and to even expect those threats. Conspiracy theories may have helped them accomplish this.
For example, our ancestors probably would have benefited from being suspicious of powerful and potentially hostile coalitions. In this case, they may have been able to avoid a threat.
They Spread False Information
A conspiracy theory is not just a harmless rumor. For example, during the COVID pandemic, social media claims that face masks caused pneumonia or compromised oxygen flow led to controversy and confusion about the preventive steps. There is no perfect way to measure how acceptance of conspiracies changed the death count associated with COVID, but experts think that they undoubtedly increased the number of lives lost because of how the beliefs seemed to encourage or justify the rejection of behaviors that could have been lifesaving, like getting vaccinated and treated for COVID or wearing a mask and social distancing to protect others.
They Disempower Believers
Conspiracy theorists believe they belong to a smaller, less powerful group that is at the mercy of a larger group. This belief gives them a sense of disempowerment and increases anxiety, isolation, and vulnerability to outside influences. While studies have shown that a sense of ostracism strengthens conspiracy beliefs, a strong sense of self appears to reduce a person’s chances to believe in or endorse them. How Does Propaganda Work?
COVID-19 changed our lives in almost every way, including causing a massive increase in news consumption in all forms but especially on social media.
One survey found that almost 70% of people around the world had increased their news consumption to learn more about COVID. Many of us were trying to figure out how the virus would affect our health, families, and businesses.
The unprecedented stress, unrelenting anxiety, isolation, and overburdened healthcare systems created fertile soil for what the World Health Organization (WHO) called a “massive infodemic.”4 The term described how much of the news about COVID that people were seeing was false and/or politically motivated.
Since more people wanted news, the media industry responded to the demand by providing even more information—some of it accurate, some inaccurate, and some conflicting. It became harder for a layperson to navigate all these sources and know what sources they could trust. It also became increasingly difficult for people to find reliable guidance on what they could believe.
Studies have shown that even though most of the information about the COVID pandemic was accurate, false news seemed to be shared and spread more. Conspiracy theories specific to the pandemic quickly began to emerge and spread almost as fast as the virus itself. For example, a March 2020 survey of U.S. residents showed that one in four Americans believed that COVID was intentionally developed by scientists.
A June 2020 survey by Pew Research revealed that around 20% of Americans thought there was at least “some truth” to the theory that the COVID pandemic had been intentionally planned.
The Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials are one of the most well-known historical examples of how conspiracy theories can have lethal consequences. The Salem Witch Trials started in 1692 when a group of young women in Salem, Massachusetts, believed that they were demon-possessed and accused several other women of witchcraft. Quickly, people became convinced that their neighbors were witches. The belief wasn’t a brief lapse in judgment—the trials went on for over a year. A judge and jury tried the supposed witches, and 30 of them were sentenced to hanging. The witch trials were a clear example of a group of people who believed that another, more powerful group was working together with evil intentions to cause harm. The Reason for the Fear of Witchcraft in History and Modern Times
Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment
Some conspiracy theories have turned out to be true. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment is a prime example of this turn of events. In 1932, a study was started without the consent of the Black men involved to observe the long-term effects of syphilis, a sexually transmitted infection. The men who enrolled at the Tuskegee Institute had syphilis and were told by the providers there that they would be treated. In reality, they received no treatment. The illness was allowed to ravage their bodies, and the men suffered irreversible consequences. While it started as a conspiracy theory, it was revealed in 1972 that the experiment did actually take place. What’s more, a treatment for syphilis, penicillin, was available at the time of the experiment. Had the men been able to receive it, they may not have experienced the lasting health effects of the infection. How Does Systemic Racism Affect Mental Health?
JFK’s Assassination
One of the darkest days in American history is also one that has a great deal of conspiracy theories surrounding it: The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. Unlike other events that took some time to fuel conspiracies, JFK’s assassination had elements of uncertainty from the beginning. It was also a collectively traumatic moment for the American public, and there wasn’t much closure. The assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was killed on live television just two days after he assassinated Kennedy. In the immediate aftermath of the assassination, polls showed that 62% of the American public thought there was a conspiracy at play. That rate dropped to 31% after the publication of the Warren Commission—the official investigation into what happened. The Warren Commission concluded that Oswald had acted alone, but the “Lone Gunman” theory proved controversial. Conspiracy theorists have claimed many things about JFK’s assassination, including that the CIA or Russia was behind it, and that Oswald could not have acted alone—or even that he didn’t do it at all. More than 50 years later, conspiracies about the assassination still exist even as experts and multiple investigations have offered conclusions about what happened. In recent years, thousands of official government documents from the investigation have been declassified, but even these reports have not quelled conspiracy theories. Gun Violence and Mental Illness: Understanding Links and Misconceptions
Humans have invented and believed in conspiracy theories throughout history, often with significant and serious consequences. While some people have always been more likely to believe the misinformation spread by conspiracy theories, the COVID-19 pandemic showed that social media and the Internet have made it possible for harmful misinformation to spread far and fast. We will need to learn from past and present conspiracy theories to find ways to combat the infodemic of misinformation in the world today and reduce its negative effects on public health.
Why Humans Tell Stories
22 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
1.Douglas KM, Sutton RM, Cichocka A. The psychology of conspiracy theories. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2017;26(6):538-542. doi:10.1177/0963721417718261
2.van Prooijen JW, van Vugt M. Conspiracy theories: Evolved functions and psychological mechanisms. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2018;13(6):770-788. doi:10.1177/1745691618774270
Apr 23, 2019 · Why are people drawn to conspiracy theories? What are they seeking when they first go down the rabbit hole? Are there specific personality types that are more prone to conspiracy theories than...
Nov 18, 2020 · People believe in conspiracy theories for a variety of reasons—to explain random events, to feel special or unique, or for a sense of social belonging, to name a few.
Sep 19, 2020 · One study found that half of all Americans believe in at least one conspiracy theory. What Is a Conspiracy Theory? A conspiracy theory can be defined as the belief that there are groups that meet in secret to plan and carry out malevolent goals.
May 28, 2021 · The psychology behind conspiracy theories offers explanations of why some people are more likely to believe conspiracy theories, even those that feel taken out of a movie.
Aug 24, 2018 · Conspiracy theories are commonly defined as explanatory beliefs about a group of actors that collude in secret to reach malevolent goals (Bale, 2007). What drives belief in such conspiracy theories?
