MDLinxNew Research Illuminates the Motivations and Personality Traits of Conspiracy Theorists

Researcher Shauna M. Bowes synthesized material from 170 studies, with a total of 158,473 participants, to investigate the motivations and personality traits associated with “conspiratorial ideation.”

In an interesting study from Emory University’s Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program, researchers have performed a comprehensive analysis of the psychological underpinnings of “conspiratorial ideation,” offering novel insights into its motivational and personality-based roots.

Key Points:

• The research focused primarily on data from the US, UK, and Poland.
• Individuals engaging in conspiratorial ideation tend to be more insecure, emotionally unstable, suspicious, withdrawn, manipulative, callous, irresponsible, impulsive, egocentric, and eccentric.
• They often display abnormal-range correlates of conspiratorial ideation, including schizotypy, paranoia, unusual experiences, trait psychoticism, and hostility.
• The research supports the tripartite motivational model of conspiratorial ideation, focusing on three variables: the epistemic, the existential, and the social.
• Trust was found to be the largest negative correlate (more trust, less conspiratorial ideation), and social threat perception was the largest positive correlate (more social threat perception, more conspiratorial ideation).

Additional Points:

• Conspiratorial ideation refers to a tendency to endorse conspiracy theories, which ascribe blame to powerful individuals or groups for secretive, harmful actions.
• Bowes suggests that people often turn to conspiracy theories to fulfill deprived motivational needs and make sense of distress and impairment.
• Bowes believes this research provides the most comprehensive overview of belief in conspiracy theory to date.

Conclusion:

• Bowes’ research offers a detailed understanding of the motivations and personality traits linked with conspiratorial ideation. This could pave the way for designing effective interventions to counter such ideation, potentially contributing to more informed and realistic public discourse.

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