A recent study by the Emory University has shown that personal motivation and a combination of character traits make people susceptible to conspiracy theories. Researchers at the Linköping University have now investigated why people tend to believe in conspiracy theories. According to their publication in the Journal of Research in Personality, people who doubt objective facts are more susceptible to conspiracy theories. Additionally, conspiracy theories are more credible when truth is primarily defined as a subjective feeling. The study surveyed over 1,400 participants and explored their concepts of truth, their belief in conspiracy theories, and their willingness to revise their views in the light of contradictory evidence.
The study also evaluated the participants’ analytical abilities by presenting them with a series of logic puzzles. They were also asked to evaluate the significance of both meaningless statements and traditional wisdom. The participants’ reactions to the concept of truth could be statistically assigned to two different types of truth relativism. The first type considers truth as a subjective sensation, while the second type sees truth as socially and culturally context-dependent. The researchers found that those who believed in the subjectivity of truth were more likely to believe in conspiracy theories and to hold onto their beliefs even when faced with contradictory evidence.
The orientation of subjectivists towards a feeling of “rightness” could potentially limit their ability to critically examine conspiracy theories through analytical reasoning. While the researchers acknowledge that many people who relativize the concept of truth have good intentions, their results suggest that such a view can be dangerous. The study highlights the importance of objective facts and critical thinking in evaluating conspiracy theories.
