But Van Prooijen warns that “One of the main mistakes that one can make in explaining conspiracy beliefs is to dismiss them as pathological. Instead, … conspiracy theories emerge from regular and predictable psychological responses to feelings of uncertainty and fear”. While Van Prooijen may be correct in this viewpoint, that research (described below) also suggests that people with higher levels of education and analytical thinking skills in particular, are able to mentally step back from feelings and thoughts of anxiety and “think about their thinking” in a more rationale manner and come to some kind of realization that a secret cabal of Democratic, Satan-worshipping child molesters, operating in the basement of a pizza parlor (referring to the QAnon conspiracy theory) is probably unlikely.
A Mistake? Maybe not!
While Van Prooijen believes that it is a mistake to dismiss belief in conspiracy theories as “pathological”, recent research suggests the opposite. Research by Enders and his associates (Enders, et. al., 2022), suggests a link between conspiracy theory believers and anti-social personality disorder:
The public endorsement of conspiracy theories and misinformation by prominent trusted leaders may connect anti-social, conflictual people to those ideas, subsequently motivating them to act… Some conspiracy theories appeal to people who have anti-social and nonnormative traits and who exhibit anti-social behaviors. This might explain why it is so difficult to ‘correct’ some people’s conspiracy theory beliefs: those people are not open to correction or negotiation.
This is an important finding in the sense that the estimated number of people afflicted with this disorder range from over 3% of the US population to over 70% of certain subgroups (for example, males with alcohol use disorders and substance abusers). Symptoms of this disorder are quite serious. As noted by the Mayo Clinic (2022) this includes people who have a tendency to manifest the following:
* Disregard for right and wrong
* Persistent lying or deceit to exploit others
* Using charm or wit to manipulate others for personal gain or personal pleasure
* Arrogance, a sense of superiority and being extremely opinionated
* Recurring problems with the law, including criminal behavior
* Repeatedly violating the rights of others through intimidation and dishonesty
* Hostility, significant irritability, agitation, aggression or violence
* Lack of empathy for others and lack of remorse about harming others
* Failure to consider the negative consequences of behavior or learn from them
* Aggression toward people and animals
* Destruction of property
* Deceitfulness
* Theft
* Serious violations of rules
Clearly, these are potentially troubled and dangerous people who require help – however, leaders and experts with nefarious intent are much more easily able to influence individuals with these traits to believe conspiracy fabrications and take actions to injure others and ultimately themselves.
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