Wake up, sheeple! Stop drinking the Kool-Aid and see the truth!
Whether you believe Avril Lavigne was replaced by a clone named Melissa, 9/11 was an inside job, the COVID vaccine implanted a microchip, or the moon landing was faked, there’s a conspiracy theory out there for everyone.
But why is it that some individuals are more inclined to believe in them than others? If you have a conspiracy theorist in your life—or you are one yourself—that's a question that may have crossed your mind.
While the media often portrays believers as foolish or stupid, that is an unfair assumption. Frankly, there’s nothing to suggest that intelligence plays any role. Instead, recent research has shone a light on the motivational and personality traits that conspiracy theorists often share, and why certain groups of people may be more prone to believing in outlandish theories.
Conspiracy theories, explained
First things first, let’s talk about the basics. Chances are, you’ve come across your fair share of wild, weird and truly wonderful conspiracy theories in your life. But what makes them unique?
Conspiracy theories, according to the European Commission, are “the belief that certain events or situations are secretly manipulated behind the scenes by powerful forces with negative intent.” The theories tend to center on an alleged secret plot and a group of conspirators, and seek to intrinsically connect what most people believe to be coincidences to one another.
Often, the heart of a theory is that we, ‘the people,’ are being lied to by those in power. That could manifest as wide-scale political foul play, alien life being covered up by the government, celebrity deaths being ‘no accident,’ or the rich and famous being part of the Illuminati.
Regardless of the theory, the common thread is the same: we’re not getting the whole story.
The intriguing thing about conspiracy theories is that, from a distance at least, they often appear to make sense. That’s because many of them are rooted in nuggets of logic and truth, only they are extrapolated so far as to reach an otherwise unlikely conclusion.
To further muddy the waters, there may also be a plethora of ‘evidence’ to support common conspiracy theories.
“As a child of the ‘90s, perfectly ordinary TV shows about crop circles, hyped Roswell footage, or UFO sightings on the news were so commonplace, they just felt normal to me,” one anonymous, self-proclaimed conspiracy theorist explains. “The X-Files was a mainstream show that echoed all those tropes weekly, and nobody was laughing.”
“This has led me to just intrinsically believe in aliens, and actually feel a bit bemused when a July 2023 Congressional hearing featuring senior US government people saying they had recovered aliens was just met by the world at large with shrugs and smiles,” they continue. “To me, it was confirmation. We are not alone!”
Why do some people believe in conspiracies?
Yes, conspiracy theorists walk among us. And you’re not the first person to wonder what it is that makes them believe—researchers have, too.
Recently, psychologists from various universities set out to find what motivations and personological traits were common across self-proclaimed conspiracy theorists. Researchers analyzed data from 170 studies with over 158,000 participants mainly in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Poland.
What they didn't find is any evidence that would suggest lower intellect or poorer mental health made an impact on whether one would be a conspiracy theorist.
“Conspiracy theorists are not all likely to be simple-minded, mentally unwell folks—a portrait which is routinely painted in popular culture,” lead author Shauna Bowes, a doctoral student in clinical psychology at Emory University told Neuroscience News. “Instead, many turn to conspiracy theories to fulfill deprived motivational needs and make sense of distress and impairment.”
The study was published in The Psychological Bulletin. Researchers found that conspiracy theorists fall into three groups, and there may be a great deal of crossover between them: people seeking to understand their environment, those with a desire for superiority, and individuals with key personality traits including antagonism, paranoia, and egotism.
“These results largely map onto a recent theoretical framework advancing that social identity motives may give rise to being drawn to the content of a conspiracy theory, whereas people who are motivated by a desire to feel unique are more likely to believe in general conspiracy theories about how the world works,” said Bowes.
With that in mind, let’s take a deeper dive into the common traits and why each of them may cause an individual to become a believer.
1. A desire to understanding their environment
The world is full of unknowns, the idea of which can be overwhelming. It’s no huge stretch, then, to learn that believing in conspiracy theories provides some people with a level of comfort. This is particularly true for individuals who feel ‘othered’ from mainstream society.
“The human need to understand one's environment is a fundamental psychological drive, essential for survival and adaptation,” explains Niloufar Esmaeilpour, MSc, RCC, SEP from Lotus Therapy & Counselling Centre. “This need is indeed stronger in conspiracy theorists, possibly because they find conventional explanations insufficient for satisfying their curiosity or because they feel alienated from mainstream sources of information.”
The urge to find an answer can turn into an obsession, driving a person’s belief. “Their intense need to make sense of the world often leads them to connect dots that are not necessarily connected in reality, seeking patterns and meanings where there might be none,” she continues.
2. Desire for superiority
While the quest for knowledge is one driving force for conspiracy theorists, there is a darker side here. As you may have guessed, people who believe in conspiracy theories often simultaneously believe that they are better than those around them. That is because while everyone else takes things at face value—as so-called ‘sheeple’—they see the truth.
“Believing in conspiracies can confer a sense of superiority because it creates an ‘in-group’ versus ‘out-group’ dynamic, where the believer feels they have access to forbidden knowledge or truths that others do not,” says Esmaeilpour. “This part of it manifests in a sense of pride or smugness in ‘seeing through the lies' of mainstream narratives, reinforcing their own belief system while often looking down on those who accept official accounts as naïve or uninformed.”
Once you dip your toes into the conspiratorial waters, it may be hard to stop yourself from sinking deeper and deeper down. It’s clear to see how some can drown in it. That is because, for many people, believing in conspiracies becomes a central to their entire personality.
“Being a conspiracy theorist can significantly influence one's self-identity, intertwining closely with how they view the world and their place within it. It often becomes a major part of their persona, shaping their interactions, conversations and how they seek information,” says Esmaeilpour.
“For some, it might start as a skeptical view of a single event but can grow to become a lens through which all information is filtered, defining their stance on a wide array of issues.”
3. Paranoia and antagonism
Personality—and individual differences—will always play a role when it comes to who believes in conspiracy theories. Certain people are simply more prone to these ideologies. The researchers found that believers often shared specific traits, including both paranoia and antagonism.
“Some personality types are indeed more inclined to believe in conspiracies,” explains Esmaeilpour. “Traits such as high openness to experience might lead to a curiosity for alternative explanations, while high levels of neuroticism could contribute to the anxiety and paranoia that make conspiracy theories appealing.”
Of course, it doesn’t end there. That is because there is something fundamentally antagonistic about refusing to go along with the mainstream. Indeed, people who relish playing the contrarian in social settings will naturally find themselves drawn to conspiracy theories.
As Esmaeilpour explains “believing in conspiracy theories can be seen as antagonistic, primarily because it often involves a fundamental distrust of mainstream narratives and institutions, leading to a confrontational stance against perceived ‘enemies’ of the truth. This antagonism isn't just towards external entities; it can also cause rifts between friends and family, dividing people based on their willingness to accept or reject these alternative narratives.”
The takeaway
There is no simple explanation as to what makes a conspiracy theorist. However, as the research suggests, believers often have some traits and motivations in common.
The belief in something other than what we are told can provide a sense of security, belonging, and superiority to those who need it. And, since believing in said conspiracies offers all of the above double-time, it can have a real snowball effect. One theory can quickly lead to another, and before you know it, you may be neck-deep in the thick of them.
