From the moon landing to the Kennedy assassination and, most recently, to the fate of Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged client list, conspiracy theories have long captivated Americans’ attention.
But Northeastern University psychologist Laurie Kramer says that polarization and isolation, the ability to communicate widely and freely, and a lack of trust and acceptance in society make this an especially conducive time to, say, believe in aliens at Area 51.
“We don’t currently have a climate of trust and acceptance that’s universal in our country,” says Kramer, a professor of applied psychology at Northeastern’s Bouve College of Health Sciences. “As a society we’re now split into different factions. That’s not conducive to everyone feeling like they can have access to information which they can then test and evaluate.
“Our confidence in the information we’re being provided is lower than in the past. And so, with greater uncertainty, we tend to invent different scenarios to help explain what might actually be going on.”
Northeastern Global News spoke to Kramer about the psychology of conspiracy theories: why people are so invested in conspiracy theories, why conspiracy theories appeal to people, why conspiracy theories persist and more.
Her comments have been edited for brevity and clarity.
“Usually, conspiracy theories happen because people are looking for an explanation as to why things are happening, especially for unfortunate events. Having an explanation, or a reason as to why things are happening — even if these explanations don’t make a whole lot of logical sense — makes people feel better. And if there are other people who agree with that line of reasoning, they can feed off each other, may even build a community (like a Reddit group) around that logic, all of which reinforces that line of thinking.
In many cases, the events that people are trying to understand are really intriguing — for example, when someone presents the idea that maybe we didn’t really land on the moon, it may lead people who are fascinated by this idea to create a shared fantasy of what could have happened. An alternative reality.
As people play off each other and further shape these ideas, they may be creating a community of people who not only share the same belief system but maybe also share some underlying values.
They may find it interesting, even entertaining, to work together to further imagine these scenarios. And, over time, they may find that they are deriving some forms of support, perhaps emotional support, from this community of individuals who agree with their line of thinking.”
“The fact that communication is so easy nowadays plays a part. We can communicate with huge numbers of people very quickly. And so as large numbers of people are seeing those messages and reacting to them in real time, the number of people who are buying into them grows.
Social media enables recipients of these messages to build upon them, elaborate on them, perhaps making them even more intriguing. It also enables individuals to push the message out to more and more members of their own networks.
It’s possible that the ‘theory’ can be dispersed faster than the evidence that can debunk those claims.
Plus, it’s really hard to debunk some myths because there are some really good conspiracy thinkers out there. Even in the face of some compelling evidence to refute the myth, they may just invent an additional layer to the conspiracy to explain this new information.”
“I don’t believe that we have accurate data on the occurrence of conspiracy theories, but they do seem to be emerging more frequently based on accounts of what we’re seeing in newsfeeds. It also feels like there is a growing climate or undercurrent of distrust, especially towards authority figures.
I’m concerned that as some terrible events happen — there’s a flood, there’s an airplane crash — that not only are we looking at what happened, what might have caused this horrific event, and how might we have prevented it — but in many cases, some folks are inventing reasons for why this event happened that do sound like the making of a conspiracy theory.
So many of us now feel alone in today’s world. We feel confused. We feel like we’re not really sure who we can trust. I think those concerns contribute to a climate in which faulty belief systems are formed. And in that climate, people may resist giving those beliefs up even when they are faced with evidence that disproves them.”
“I think your best bet is to approach this individual with a sense of humility and curiosity — expressing a desire to learn more about their thinking. You’re not promising to accept their viewpoint, just that you want to understand it at a deeper level.
You have to show that you’re willing to look at the evidence that they have, that you want to listen to their point of view, and deeply explore their belief system. Hopefully, through the questions that you’re asking about their rationale — which need to be asked in a non-confrontational manner, more out of a spirit of curiosity — you may be able to help that individual become a bit more receptive to alternate ways of looking at the available evidence.
My hope is that, over time, with multiple conversations like this, you may be able to help that individual ask themselves some difficult questions about their beliefs.”
“To build trust, people need access to information. They need to be able to examine and evaluate evidence. Exercising critical thinking is important for helping people test the assumptions they are forming, so that they can resist forming and perpetuating faulty beliefs. We also need to place greater value on the findings of qualified experts.
I’d like to see greater transparency in the information that is provided to the public about the things that people tend to form conspiracy theories about.
If we had mechanisms by which individuals can feel assured that all of the relevant evidence is available for them to look at, and that they can learn what experts have said about the evidence, it could be really helpful. Right now, it feels like a lot of the information about particular things is either hidden from view or cherry-picked.”