Why Do Certain Individuals Hold Onto Conspiracy Theories?

Conspiracy theories can be categorized into three main reasons: the desire for understanding and certainty, the desire for control, and a combination of personality traits and motivations. People are prone to believe in conspiracy theories due to a combination of these factors, including relying heavily on intuition, feeling antagonism, and superiority.

Confirmation bias is the most pervasive cognitive bias and a powerful driver of belief in conspiracies. People with a natural inclination to give more weight to evidence supporting their beliefs are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories. However, other factors also play a role, such as the nurturing of underlying emotions by global events.

People who feel insecure in their relationships and tend to catastrophize life’s problems are more prone to believing in conspiracy theories. These theories can threaten our safety and democracy, and specific emotions make people more prone to such thinking.

Rational arguments and myth busting often won’t help change the mind of a conspiracy theorist. However, there are alternative approaches to dealing with conspiracy beliefs, similar to dealing with psychotic disorders. Conspiracy theories are everywhere, and the spread of conspiracy theories is not necessarily universal.

In the pre-pandemic era, the question of who to trust when it comes to health and science information was often asked. Conspiracy theory experts have found that not everyone is vulnerable to conspiratorial thinking, and it is crucial to understand the personality traits of conspiracy theorists to effectively combat these beliefs.