The Psychology Behind Conspiracy Theories
Conspiracy Theories. A tale as old as time. What makes them believable and why do many people believe them?
The spread of misleading information is not as uncommon as we think. A brief look into the past and we will come across many examples such as the staging of the moon landing to the satanic panic. These are otherwise known as conspiracy theories. Merriam-Webster defines conspiracy theories as “a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators”.
Through this article, we explore the psychology behind conspiracy theories and why people tend to hold on to these beliefs as well as the effects they have on our society as a whole.
Shortcuts For The Busy Read
Famous Conspiracy Theories
Before we look into the psychology behind conspiracy theories and their influence on society, let us look at a few famous examples of conspiracy theories and how they have influenced or continue to influence human behaviour.
a. The Earth Is Flat
Since the era of the Ancient Greeks, it is a known fact that the Earth is round. In fact, the successful circumnavigation of the Meggalen-Elcano expedition between 1519 and 1522 would strongly back up the shape of our planet. Plus with the many advances in technology and science, a simple Google search will show you multiple images of our blue-bodied planet.
Yet, there are many individuals, to this day, who doubt the spherical nature of the earth. These individuals claim the earth’s shape to be more 2-dimensional likening to the shape of a disk. Furthermore, those images of the Earth that are so easily accessible are considered an elaborate plan concocted by multiple governments.
b. Man on the Moon
A couple of years after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made the “giant leap for mankind”, many individuals hypothesised that the first-ever moon landing was an elaborate hoax. Conspiracy theorists suggested that the US had staged this event in order to win the space race against the Soviet Union. It is suggested that the pictures from the moon landing were staged and not actually taken on the moon.
The conspiracy claim rose to prominence around the time when there were other major political events had taken place such as the Pentagon Papers and Watergate which diminished the trust people had in their government.
c. Satanic Panic
One of the longest media scares in US history, Satanic Panic was propelled into the spotlight as a result of extreme media portrayal of rebellious teenagers and their consumption of content frowned upon by the then society (e.g., hard rock music). This led to mass hysteria among the American population rocking the foundations of every household. Much of this was heavily reliant on baseless claims from children as well as suggestive/leading interrogative styles by therapists and prosecutors.
d. COVID Pandemic
Even the pandemic has multiple conspiracy theories surrounding it. One of the earliest conspiracies suggested that COVID was not as serious as people were claiming it to be and that it would be no worse than having the flu, making people resistant to abiding by lockdown rules. Oh, those days when we were oh so naive.
And once the gravitas of the situation was beginning to be acknowledged, many still were not convinced. The mortality rates were considered to be exaggerated and thus observing lockdowns were not necessary. Although these claims were debunked, the persistent spread of false information, particularly on social media, there are still people out there who are not really sold on the pandemic.
These are just a select few conspiracy theories out there. There are many more and considering them would be entering a rabbit hole with no exits; so let’s just stick with these examples. Instead, let us consider what makes these theories so convincing that there many individuals who genuinely believe them.
Why do some people believe in conspiracy theories?
In their book, Power Politics and Paranoia, Jan-Willem van Prooijen and Paul A.M. van Lang suggest that the incidence of conspiracy theories follow when prominent crises are observed in our communities. If you observe the above examples closely they either happened shortly during a life-changing event or are the life-changing event.
But not all individuals who experience a prominent crisis believe in conspiracy theories. These beliefs only seem to attract the attention of a select group of individuals. Research findings have indicated that individuals who tend to believe in conspiracy theories have a much more dangerous worldview, are receptive to baseless facts and fall on the spectrum of schizotypal personality.
At the same time, research suggests a far simpler reason for people to believe in conspiracy theories; to cope with stressors. As a means of coping with stress and regaining some semblance of control in an intense situation, individuals mentally project negative feelings such as stress and anxiety to a group they do not identify with (out-group) or people/organizations of power.
You may wonder so what? As long as the majority of the population does not subscribe to these theories it shouldn’t be a problem, right? Well, not really. Conspiracy theories are quite harmful. Even though, those who believe in conspiracy make up a small fraction of the world’s population, it is still a large number of individuals. Believing in these theories is associated with higher levels of stress as well as self-uncertainty. And to an extent, they also have an effect on our physical health such as refusing vaccines or not adhering to social distancing protocols during the pandemic.
Albeit entertaining, conspiracy theories have quite adverse consequences. Whether through social media or other forms of digital media, information travels fast and some of us are quick to believe what's being presented to us without considering other key pieces of information. So the next time you see something that is believably outlandish, maybe take a minute to get a little more information before you jump on the conspiracy bandwagon.
References De Coninck, D., Frissen, T., Matthijs, K., d’Haenens, L., Lits, G., Champagne-Poirier, O., Carignan, M.-E., David, M. D., Pignard-Cheynel, N., Salerno, S., & Généreux, M. (2021). Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation About COVID-19: Comparative Perspectives on the Role of Anxiety, Depression and Exposure to and Trust in Information Sources. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.646394 Grzesiak-Feldman, M. (2013). The Effect of High-Anxiety Situations on Conspiracy Thinking. Current Psychology, 32(1), 100–118. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-013-9165-6 Hart, J., & Graether, M. (2018). Something’s Going on Here. Journal of Individual Differences, 39(4), 229–237. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000268 Mao, J.-Y., van Prooijen, J.-W., Yang, S.-L., & Guo, Y.-Y. (2021). System Threat during a Pandemic: How Conspiracy Theories Help to Justify the System. Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, 15, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/18344909211057001 Prooijen, J. W., Ligthart, J., Rosema, S., & Xu, Y. (2021). The entertainment value of conspiracy theories. British Journal of Psychology, 113(1), 25–48. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12522 van Prooijen, J.-W. (2015). Sometimes inclusion breeds suspicion: Self-uncertainty and belongingness predict belief in conspiracy theories. European Journal of Social Psychology, 46(3), 267–279. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2157 van Prooijen, J.-W., & van Lange, P. A. M. (2014). Power, Politics, and Paranoia Why People are Suspicious of their Leaders. Cambridge University Press. |