In a new study published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology, researchers identify two psychological traits common among people with a conspiracist mindset: a sense of injustice and a low tolerance of ambiguity.
The first is a low tolerance of ambiguity or TA. People with low TA find it difficult to handle stories or situations that are not abundantly clear or contain “shades of gray.” They often feel anxious when a situation is unclear or random. Conspiracy theories remove this uncertainty by providing a simple, black-and-white explanation.
The second factor is a sense of injustice. People who are sensitive to perceived injustices or who believe the world is unfairly rigged against them are more likely to subscribe to conspiracy theories. The belief that someone is “pulling the strings” or controlling the situation helps them to make sense of what is going on. For these individuals, a secret plot is a more satisfying explanation than the idea that the world is simply random and complex.
The researchers also found that people who are younger, as well as those who are more religious also have a stronger conspiracist mentality.
Not all conspiracy theories (CTs) are completely wrong. I mean remember Pizzagate, where Democrat politicians met in a pizza shop basement to molest children? Twist a couple of those theory threads into reality and you get rich people (mostly men) visiting a private island to use and abuse young girls.
I think this study simply looked for generalizations of who would be most susceptible to CTs and wasn’t trying to focus on proving who is a ‘believer’.
The foundation of the study was flawed because “conspiratorial belief” isn’t always a bad thing, because real life conspiracies are a thing.
If they were looking for problematic conspiratorial beliefs, they should have used questions that correctly isolated those.
This research is completely worthless, which is so rare it’s almost impressive.