From flying saucers to fake deaths, conspiracy theories are far and wide. Scientists have now taken a look into what physiological traits form conspiracy theorists. What makes them tick, are there trends, do politics have a role? This is what researchers Adrian Furnham, Stephen Cuppello, and David S. Semmelink examined.
Furnham is a psychologist and professor at the University of London, Cupello is the director of psychology at Thomas International, and Semmelink is a psychometrician. The three first began the study by using 253 people viewing the mindset trends of conspiracy theorists. They did this through a series of questions which the study participants were asked to rate. They were a variety of situational and opinionated questions such as, “politicians usually do not tell us the true motives for their decisions” and “government agencies closely monitor all citizens.” They also asked statistical questions such as race, gender, and mentality. The data from those questions influenced 20 percent of reasoning why conspiracy theorists believe what they do.
Through all this data they determined several traits that form a conspiracy theorist. The first one being a low tolerance of ambiguity. Ambiguity is the ability to be open to multiple interpretations. Conspiracy theorists have low ambiguity as they see multiple meanings of something as a distraction from the truth. They’re skeptical of gray areas which then develop into a conspiracy theory. What they realized through the research is that the theories are a coping response to anxiety and stress on what’s uncertain. The theories are an explanation to the unknown that worries them so.
The second trait scientist identified is “a sense of injustice”. This is when they believe that the world is out to get them. What these beliefs develop into is a sense that government organizations, large companies, and global leaders have an alternate agenda against them. This creates hysteria whenever messaging is released and then more theories are formed.
The third trait that stood out the most was political affiliation. Through data sets, the study learned that those who identified as conservative were more likely to support conspiracy ideas compared to those who are liberal. Millbrook High School and AP Government & Politics student Alayna Pittman was posed the question of what political affiliation is most likely to believe in conspiracy theories. Her response was, “I think liberals are most likely.”, when asked why she said, “I don’t know, that was just my first thought”. Conservatives have a history of sharing conspiracy theories, especially in recent years with Covid-19 and the January 6th insurrection (a conservative led occurrence). Aspiring politician and Millbrook High School student Mackenzie Suvulkin commented on why conservatives are in that most likely group, “I think that a lot of conservatives push back against narratives, they aren’t ones to accept what’s presented firsthand.”
Because the research group was generally small with only a little over 200 participants, there needs to be larger scale groups to get more concrete evidence. However this data has revealed a broader issue, transparency. As that is what’s the root issue of conspiracy theorists. They’re looking for answers, organizations, professionals, and governments should reflect on the way they promote their messaging.
