Conspiracy thinking: A scapegoat is always useful

But interestingly, also without crisis situations, people sometimes accuse other groups of conspiring. The Apollo moon landings, for instance, were not a crisis situation. They were a testimony to human accomplishment, courage, and scientific progress. Yet, this was an impactful and salient societal event that many people sought to make sense of. The moon landings therefore stimulated many conspiracy theories among people who had a deep-rooted distrust in the US government or NASA. Even up to this day, a sizeable number of people believe that they were staged in a TV studio. In a 2019 survey, eleven per cent of US citizens believed that the moon landings were faked.

These varied examples illuminate the relationships between conspiracy theories, polarization, and radicalization. When people polarize, they not only become more strongly entrenched in their own beliefs about pressing societal issues – such as the Covid-19 pandemic, immigration, climate change, and so on – they also see sharper distinctions with groups of people who hold different beliefs about these issues.

Conspiracy theories provide a narrative that demonize these other groups by ascribing evil intentions, criminal action, and destruction to them. Hence they turn other groups into “enemies”, making radical action against them seem legitimate.