People who believe in conspiracy theories share key personality trait, scientists discover
DO YOU think the moon-landings were faked, the earth is flat or that the Government are keeping alien technology locked up in hidden bunkers?
Research on what drives conspiracy theories has long suggested personality traits may be to blame, with those who are insecure or impulsive more prone to accepting them.
Now, according to Australian psychologists, narcissists specifically are more likely to become conspiracy believers.
The scientists, who tracked more than 600 adults, found that highly narcissistic people, were at higher risk of a ‘conspiracy mentality’ and also less likely to spot misinformation regardless of if they were school or degree educated.
The pattern held even after accounting for age, income, and political views.
Researchers could not explain exactly why narcissists were more likely to be drawn to conspiracy theories.
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But they suggested it could be because they are more selfish and attention seeking and see themselves as superior to others.
Conspiracy theories may offer something appealing to this mindset – secret knowledge.
Study lead author, Dr Tylor Cosgrove, a lecturer in psychology at Adelaide University, told The Conversation: “Education often provides people with skills in evaluating evidence, critical thinking and a shared understanding of how we can find truth.
“However, humans are quite good at “motivated reasoning”, using reasoning skills to come to pleasing conclusions because we want to believe something.
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“This type of reasoning is often linked to unfounded beliefs – those without evidence.
“When people feel superior to experts, want to feel special, or need a concrete answer during uncertain times, they might use their reasoning to hold certain beliefs despite a lack of evidence.
“My research suggests educated people are not immune to this.”
Conspiracy theories are alternative explanations for major events that reject the accepted narrative.
For example, because Earth‘s surface looks and feels flat, so-called “Flat Earthers” believe it must be so.
Other popular theories include vaccinations being a way to implant a chip in people’s bodies.
The research, which was carried out over two studies, asked 660 adults to complete a series of questionnaires to measure narcissistic traits.
In the first study, participants were asked how much they believed certain conspiracy theories, including the assassination of John F Kennedy.
The second study then assessed participants’ ability to distinguish true statements from misinformation, by presenting them with real and fake news headlines.
One fake headline included was: “Ebola Virus Caused by US Nuclear Weapons Testing, New Study Says”.
People who scored higher in narcissistic traits were more accepting of conspiracy theories and misinformation, the scientists found.
NARCISSISM VS LOW SELF ESTEEM
Typically, narcissists tend to be cocky, full of themselves and have an inflated sense of self-worth, so having low self-esteem may seem like a paradox.
But psychology studies have shown that people who score as highly narcissistic can also have very low self-esteem.
Psychologists have also suggested that in this group, the outwardly inflated self-confidence may be them overcompensating for a lack of belief in themselves.
Importantly, this was true regardless of how educated the person was.
“highly educated people were just as likely to endorse these beliefs as those without any formal education,” Dr Cosgrove added.
Writing in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, the scientists said: “Personality traits such as narcissism are notoriously difficult to shift, particularly if the individual is unmotivated to do so.
“Providing adaptive ways to satisfy epistemic [knowledge] and social needs may also reduce their relation to conspiracy beliefs and misinformation.
“However this is a considerable task.”
But they added, that further research into the phenomenon was vital given it is “currently unclear” whether the “effects of narcissism, need for closure, and need for uniqueness” are directly linked with a conspiracy mentality.
