"I'm Smarter and Superior to You" The Mindset of a Conspiracy Believer

Emory University in the US Studies 'Conspiracy Theorists'
"High Hostility and Superiority Toward Others"

"The 9/11 attacks were planned by the U.S. government."

"If you get the COVID-19 vaccine, you will be mentally controlled by the government."

Why do people believe absurd conspiracy theories? A study has found that individuals with high hostility or superiority toward others are more prone to falling into conspiracy theories.

People who strongly believe in conspiracy theories tend to be anxious, paranoid, emotionally unstable, impulsive, suspicious, withdrawn, self-centered, and possibly eccentric.

[Image source=Pixabay]

A research team led by Shona Bows, a doctoral candidate at Emory University in the U.S., announced on the 27th (local time) in the American Psychological Association (APA) journal Psychological Bulletin that they analyzed data from 170 studies involving 158,473 participants from the U.S., the U.K., and Poland to investigate the motivations and personality traits related to conspiratorial thinking and discovered these facts.

Researcher Bows stated, "It is unlikely that conspiracy theorists are simple or mentally unhealthy people as often portrayed in popular culture. Instead, many rely on conspiracy theories to satisfy deprived motivational needs and to understand pain and disorders."

While past studies generally examined personality and motivation separately as factors driving conspiracy theorists, this study is notable for investigating participants' motivations and personality traits together to provide an integrated explanation for why people believe in conspiracy theories.

The researchers' analysis revealed that the factors most strongly correlated with conspiratorial thinking were ▲ perception of risk and threat ▲ reliance on intuition and holding unusual beliefs and experiences ▲ motivational and personality traits such as hostility or superiority toward others.

The motivations for believing in conspiracy theories included the desire "to understand one's environment and feel safe" and the desire "to feel that one's own community is superior to other communities."

(This photo is not directly related to the article) [Photo source=Pixabay]

Researcher Bows explained, "Although many conspiracy theories appear to clearly explain confusing events or provide hidden truths, the need for closure or control was not the strongest motivation for believing in conspiracy theories. Instead, people were more likely to believe specific conspiracy theories when motivated by social relationships."

This means that people are more likely to believe event-based conspiracy theories, such as the theory that the 9/11 attacks were planned by the U.S. government.

The research team also found that individuals with certain personality traits, such as hostility toward others or high levels of paranoia, are more prone to believing conspiracy theories.

Bows added, "To understand the overall psychology of conspiratorial thinking, future research should recognize the complexity of conspiratorial thinking and explore important and diverse variables in the relationships among conspiratorial thinking, motivation, and personality."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.