Why do people believe in conspiracy theories? Maybe for the same reason they believe in God.

By Gabriela Vasquez

Neil Armstrong’s famous moon landing in 1969 was staged by the government. The pyramids in Egypt were constructed by aliens. Former president Donald Trump is the leader of a new society that is meant to save the world– yes, the entire world– from Democrats.

As bizarre as these statements may appear, we live among people who accept them as truths. In their realities, nothing is as it seems, but in the average person’s reality, these are just conspiracy theories.

While it’s eerily entertaining to indulge in the idea that planes emit chemtrails to poison the U.S. population, or that Princess Diana’s death was not accidental but instead a plot by the Royal Family, a line is drawn between thinking “perhaps” and “definitely” when it comes to believing such theories.

But what is that line? What is it about conspiracy theories that draw people in, even when they seem absurd?

The answer lies in a combination of factors: fear, social media, and a feeling of exclusivity.

People are more likely to believe conspiracy theories in times of uncertainty or distress, says Karen Douglas, PhD, and professor of social psychology at the University of Kent. Usually created as a response to larger political or cultural changes in society, conspiracy theories are constructed as some kind of explanation or remedy to rationalize them.

In the podcast “Speaking of Psychology,” Douglas explains, “Research has shown that people who do feel powerless and disillusioned do tend to gravitate more towards conspiracy theories,” explaining why conspiracy theories surge when the future is uncertain.

Conspiracy theories date back to the Salem Witch Trials, anti-simetic theories constructed by Nazis, the McCarthyism theory of the 1950s, and appear more recently in theories involving climate change and Coronavirus, according to Aja Romano, a journalist for Vox.

“There’s no hard evidence that conspiracy theories are circulating more widely today than ever before. But over the past five years, it has certainly seemed like average Americans have bought into them more and more,” says Romano.

This phenomenon can be explained by the sense of community found on social media, and its lack of protection against the spread of false information. Platforms like 4CHAN, Reddit, and Facebook groups have allowed online users to spread their theories and simultaneously reaffirm their beliefs with other users who share common beliefs.

According to Douglas, “People can become consumed by this information. They can only seek out this information online. So they can go to particular sources, disregard other sources that contradict their views so that they end up…even more polarized.”

Because social media platforms hardly restrict the spread of false information, conspiracy theories are easily spread and have the tendency of going viral. “Social media facilitates the spread of information, giving rise to viral formats like memes. Conspiracy theories are memetic — they mutate easily and take on new forms — which makes them a perfect fit for social media platforms,” says Romano.

Even on platforms like YouTube, which publicly announced that it would ban any content spreading false information about COVID-19 vaccines in September of 2021 according to NPR, conspiracy theories are still continuing to thrive.

According to the University of Sydney, “A new study by social media researchers at the University of Sydney and QUT has found conspiracy theories are thriving on YouTube despite the platform's efforts to harden posting rules and guidelines.”

No matter what actions companies take to limit the spread of conspiracy theories, believers are hungry for more. This cult following can be explained by the pursuit of knowledge that feels exclusive.

By “knowing” information that is not publicly believed, conspiracy theorists have access to information that is underground, and reserved for the VIPs of society. It boosts their ego. “They like to have high self-esteem. They like to feel good about themselves. And potentially one way of doing that is to feel that you have access to information that other people don't necessarily have,” says Douglas.

This keeps them coming back for more. Though theorists may believe they have exclusive knowledge, Douglas also explains that people with lower education are more likely to follow such theories because they do not have the access to knowing the difference between credible and non-credible sources. Any new source of information is valid for theorists, and if enough people buy into their belief, they do not question its validity.

Whether theorists believe in conspiracy theories to soothe their anxiety in the face of uncertainty, or to gain an upper hand in society for knowing more than the general population, they believe in their theories with an almost religious devotion.

Sander van der Linden, a psychologist who studies conspiracy theories at the Social Decision-Making Lab at Cambridge says, “They think they’re given the key. If you’re woke, and you’re taking the red pill, or blue pill, or whatever the hell pill it is, then you know; you understand what’s going on.”