Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Over one in three Americans believe that global warming is a hoax.1 A full 49% of New
Yorkers believe that the United States government was complicit in the 9/11 attacks.2
Over 50% of Americans believe that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone in the
assassination of John F. Kennedy. Approximately 37% of Americans believe that the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) is deliberately keeping the public from getting natural cures
for cancer.3
Conspiracy theories are incredibly widespread and seem to be a part of all modern and
traditional societies. Research has yet to identify a culture that does not hold some sort of
conspiracy beliefs.2
Conspiracy Theory
A conspiracy theory is defined as a theory that rejects the standard explanation for an event
and instead credits a covert group or organization with carrying out a secret plot.
Conspiracy theories involve the idea of powerful groups of people taking secretive actions
that are hidden from public scrutiny. This inherently means that they would be extremely
difficult to disprove. A conspiracy theorist is likely to believe that anyone who tries to debunk
their theory is in on it and part of the conspiracy themselves.
A study of the psychology of conspiracy theories broke them down into five major elements:
An assumption of how people and events are causally interconnected or form some
pattern
The conspirators are intentional in their actions.
A group of dishonest, bad actors are working in conjunction towards a goal (lone wolf
explanations do not meet the definition of a conspiracy theory)
There is threat of harm to others from the conspirators.
The conspirators act in secrecy, which explains why there is often sparse evidence and
also make them hard to disprove.
Of note, the information above was actually published in 2017, although it seems an apt
description of current events.2
The internet allows for social media and other news sources to disseminate any opinion.
Because social media platforms, in particular, are designed to optimize user engagement,
customers are fed more and more of an idea based on their demonstrated interest in a belief
system. Before long, there are two or more parallel streams of information and completely
divergent interpretations of events.
COVID-19 changed our lives in almost every way, including causing a massive increase in
news consumption in all forms—particularly social media.4
One survey found that almost 70% of people across the globe had ramped up their news
consumption in an effort to learn more about the coronavirus. Understandably, everyone was
consumed with trying to figure out how this virus could impact their health, their families, and
their businesses.2
This, along with a taxed healthcare system, unrelenting anxiety, and innumerable unanswered
questions, created fertile soil for what the World Health Organization (WHO) called a
“massive infodemic.”4This term was meant to describe the fact that much of the news
consumed was false and/or politically motivated.
So much news-seeking gave a boost to the news-producing industry and actually provided an
overabundance of information, some accurate, some inaccurate, and some conflicting. It
became difficult for a layperson to navigate the landscape of information and know what to
believe or how to find reliable guidance.
Studies show that the majority of information about the pandemic was correct, but that false
news seemed to be shared and spread more.4
As we know, there are now several conspiracy theories particular to the pandemic. A March
2020 survey of U.S. residents revealed that one in four Americans believed that the
coronavirus was intentionally developed by scientists.4
There is a substantial subpopulation that believes that the coronavirus doesn’t exist at all, and
that the entire pandemic is a hoax. Another idea put forth on social media is that the testing
itself infects people and urged people to refuse testing.2
During this period, average people became convinced that their neighbors were witches. This
wasn’t a brief lapse in judgment; the trials went on for over a year. These supposed witches
were actually tried by a judge and jury and. Thirty of them were sentenced to hanging.
This is a conspiracy theory because it was a group of people who came to believe that
another, powerful group was working together with evil intentions to cause harm.
In 1932, a study was started without the consent of the Black men involved with the goal of
observing the long-term effects of syphilis. The men enrolled at the Tuskegee Institute had
syphilis and were told by the doctors involved that they were being treated, but they received
no treatment. The illness was allowed to ravage their bodies, and the men suffered irreversible
consequences. This occurred while the treatment for syphilis, penicillin, was available.
It was not until 1972 that it was proven that this actually happened. Prior to that, it was only a
popular conspiracy theory that the scientists of the Tuskegee Institute had perpetuated these
acts against the Black men in that area.
A conspiracy theory provides an explanation for overwhelming events. It allows for the
quenching of curiosity when there is insufficient data available about something. Basically,
for humans, a false explanation is better than no explanation.
It makes sense, then, that conspiracy theories are more likely when there is minimal or
conflicting information about a topic.
Conspiracies are also more prevalent when an event is very impactful and significant in many
people’s lives, but the public is offered relatively mundane or incomplete explanations.
Scientists conclude that conspiracies are a way for a person to have “cognitive closure.” This
is thought to be a major appeal of conspiracies.1
In the ancestral environment, it would pay to be suspicious of powerful and potentially hostile
coalitions. Our history primes us to come up with and believe conspiracies even in the face of
little supporting evidence. This may be why they can persist, regardless of how implausible
they may seem or despite direct evidence to the contrary. At one point, these tendencies were
useful for survival.2
Theory of Mind
The basic capacity to understand what others might be thinking, also known as theory of
mind, would facilitate ancestral humans’ communal living and cooperation.
This is supported by the interesting finding that the capacity to read the emotions of others
from their eyes alone accurately predicts for belief in conspiracy theories.2
Feelings of Belonging
A conspiracy theory also seems to satisfy the human desire to belong. The theories circulate
among a group of people who come to feel almost like a family. The theory is the basis of the
bond.
It also allows for validation of a self-image. Built into a conspiracy is the notion that one’s
group and the associated belief system is right and others are wrong. The assumption is that
the coalition is moral and good and being sabotaged by those outside the group. Studies
support that faith in conspiracies are associated with a narcissistic or an inflated view of
oneself.
Humans are wired to find threats in their environment but also to detect potential alliances.
This would be an evolutionary advantage in finding food, shelter, and potential mates.1
There is no great way to measure how acceptance of conspiracies changed the death count
associated with the coronavirus. However, those who have looked at this issue critically
concede that it undoubtedly increased the number of lives lost because of how it lowered the
likelihood of some to engage in disease-mitigating behavior.3
While studies confirm that a sense of ostracism strengthens conspiracy beliefs, self-
affirmation appears to be the antidote. A strong sense of self reduces a person’s likelihood to
endorse erroneous ideas.3
Peer-reviewed journal articles are a great source of information but can be a bit technical. The
websites of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and WHO are reputable, are
kept up-to-date, and their content is based on research.