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Whether it’s an uncle’s weird posts that you see every time you have to log back into Facebook, or a friend who keeps wittering on down the pub, most of us have someone in our lives who is obsessed with conspiracy theories.
And not in a ‘wouldn’t it be fun if this was true’ kind of way; in a fully-fledged, ‘this is true, and you’re a fool if you don’t believe it’s true’ kind of way.
Many people look down on these folk, whether because of their behaviour or the difference of opinion, but according to a new study, there may be more to their behavior than just an impressionableness.
Rather, as the researchers explain in a recent paper published in the journal Cognitive Processing, these folk might just really like structure and order.
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According to researchers led by academics at Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, there is a certain draw to conspiracy theories for certain people: and that is because these offer straightforward explanations to situations that might be anything but.
Their project, which studied over 550 participants, sought to understand why some people are drawn to believing conspiracy theories and others reject them immediately.
And, as Dr Neophytos Georgiou explains in a statement, the answer is very different to what you might think:
“People often assume conspiracy beliefs form because someone isn’t thinking critically. But our findings show that for those who prefer systematic structure, conspiracy theories can feel like a highly organised way to understand confusing or unpredictable events.”
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By understanding how an individual thinks and processes information, the team were able to understand who believed conspiracies and why, with a clear link to those who preferred patterns and structure, as Dr Georgiou continued:
“What stood out is that people who systemise strongly want the world to make sense in a very consistent way. Conspiracy theories often offer that sense of order. They tie loose ends together. Even when someone has strong reasoning ability, their desire for strict explanations can overshadow their ability to question those beliefs.”
Importantly, this link holds true regardless of a person’s education or scientific knowledge, showing that your personality and cognitive profile says a lot about who you are and what you believe – but most importantly, why you believe it.
And it’s certainly not a sign of stupidity.
If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about a quantum computer simulation that has “reversed time” and physics may never be the same.