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.
The CIA in the 1950s-80s pushed the term “conspiracy theory” to mean some crazy tinfoil hat guy worried about lizard people, in order to discredit the people who were speaking out against actual shady/illegal/immoral things that the government and big business (which are basically the same thing) were doing to the American public.
Yeah, I’m reading this thinking, “we’re living in a flipping conspiracy…”
I’ve heard this before. Where does this claim come from? You can find the term conspiracy theory used as early as like the 1870s.
I’ve seen it all over. Some examples are FBI and CIA responses to people learning about COINTELPRO, Bay of Pigs invasion, The McCarthyism era aka Red Scare, about a dozen other covert CIA and military operations, advanced research for aircraft and missiles being pushed as aliens, etc.