Why do people believe conspiracy theories? New research challenges old theories
The widely-accepted idea that a loss of control leads people to believe conspiracy theories is challenged by new research from the University of Otago. The researchers ran a range of psychology experiments online to test the link between people's feelings of control and their inclination to believe in conspiracy theories. While their findings suggest that there is a correlation between feelings of being in control and likelihood of believing conspiracies, the authors say this does not prove causation, and that there is no “one size fits all” explanation for why the two are linked.
Journal/conference: PLOS ONE
Link to research (DOI): 10.1371/journal.pone.0237771
Organisation/s: University of Otago
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