Post by Admin on Feb 27, 2021 19:00:06 GMT
Believing in Conspiracy Theories Is Not Delusional
Ronald W. Pies, MD, and Joseph M. Pierre, MD
February 04, 2021
www.medscape.com/viewarticle/945290?src=soc_fb_210227_mscpedt_news_mdscp_delirium&faf=1
When many people across the country, not to mention in public office, believe that the world is run by a group of Satanic pedophiles that includes top Democrats and Hollywood elites, and that former President Trump is leading a secret mission to bring these evildoers to justice, one can't help but ask if they're at least to some degree mentally impaired.
Conspiracy theories are often received with psychiatric connotations; associated with paranoid plan-hatchers, and nonbelieving outsiders. But whereas theories such as QAnon strain credibility for many people, we would argue that they are likely not the product of psychosis or mental illness; nor do conspiracy theories in general represent delusions.
For one thing, surveys have consistently revealed that about 50% of the population believes in at least one conspiracy theory. Furthermore, as we illustrate in Table 1, there are several substantive differences between conspiracy theory beliefs and delusions.
Some researchers consider conspiracy theories to be "a subset of false beliefs," but most scholars, ourselves included, do not prejudge their validity or veracity. Real-life conspiracies, such as the CIA's MK-Ultra program, have clearly occurred throughout history.
Our central contention is that belief in conspiracy theories is distinct from psychosis, and more closely resembles extreme but subculturally sanctioned religious or political beliefs. However, the line between believing in conspiracies and being delusional becomes blurred when the believer becomes part of the conspiracy theory and feels compelled to act on the belief as part of a personal mission.
Take Edgar Maddison Welch, a 28-year-old man who firmly believed the so-called "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory — the baseless claim that Hillary Clinton and Democratic elites were running a child sex-trafficking ring out of a Washington, DC pizzeria. Seeing himself a potential savior of children, Welch drove 350 miles to the pizza shop from his home in North Carolina in December 2016 and fired three shots from an AR-15 style rifle into a locked closet door, ultimately surrendering to police. However, on questioning he quickly conceded, "The intel on this wasn't 100%."
Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories?
Given that half the population believes in at least one conspiracy theory, it should come as little surprise that there is no reliable "profile" for believers. Although some studies have suggested associations with low education; right-wing political orientation; and certain personality traits like subclinical paranoia and schizotypy, such findings have been inconsistent and may vary across specific conspiracy theory. Associations between conspiracy belief and paranoia suggest overlap within a "conspiratorial mindset," with recent evidence that "distrust of officialdom" is a key mediator between believing in conspiracies and political ideology.
Other quantitative "cognitive quirks" reported in those who believe in conspiracies are a need for certainty and control; a need for uniqueness; illusory pattern perception; and lack of analytical thinking. It's unclear which of these factors may represent universal cognitive explanations for conspiratorial beliefs, vs those that might be related to specific beliefs, such as the need for certainty during times of crisis and societal upheaval, when conspiracy theories tend to flourish.
Ronald W. Pies, MD, and Joseph M. Pierre, MD
February 04, 2021
www.medscape.com/viewarticle/945290?src=soc_fb_210227_mscpedt_news_mdscp_delirium&faf=1
When many people across the country, not to mention in public office, believe that the world is run by a group of Satanic pedophiles that includes top Democrats and Hollywood elites, and that former President Trump is leading a secret mission to bring these evildoers to justice, one can't help but ask if they're at least to some degree mentally impaired.
Conspiracy theories are often received with psychiatric connotations; associated with paranoid plan-hatchers, and nonbelieving outsiders. But whereas theories such as QAnon strain credibility for many people, we would argue that they are likely not the product of psychosis or mental illness; nor do conspiracy theories in general represent delusions.
For one thing, surveys have consistently revealed that about 50% of the population believes in at least one conspiracy theory. Furthermore, as we illustrate in Table 1, there are several substantive differences between conspiracy theory beliefs and delusions.
Some researchers consider conspiracy theories to be "a subset of false beliefs," but most scholars, ourselves included, do not prejudge their validity or veracity. Real-life conspiracies, such as the CIA's MK-Ultra program, have clearly occurred throughout history.
Our central contention is that belief in conspiracy theories is distinct from psychosis, and more closely resembles extreme but subculturally sanctioned religious or political beliefs. However, the line between believing in conspiracies and being delusional becomes blurred when the believer becomes part of the conspiracy theory and feels compelled to act on the belief as part of a personal mission.
Take Edgar Maddison Welch, a 28-year-old man who firmly believed the so-called "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory — the baseless claim that Hillary Clinton and Democratic elites were running a child sex-trafficking ring out of a Washington, DC pizzeria. Seeing himself a potential savior of children, Welch drove 350 miles to the pizza shop from his home in North Carolina in December 2016 and fired three shots from an AR-15 style rifle into a locked closet door, ultimately surrendering to police. However, on questioning he quickly conceded, "The intel on this wasn't 100%."
Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories?
Given that half the population believes in at least one conspiracy theory, it should come as little surprise that there is no reliable "profile" for believers. Although some studies have suggested associations with low education; right-wing political orientation; and certain personality traits like subclinical paranoia and schizotypy, such findings have been inconsistent and may vary across specific conspiracy theory. Associations between conspiracy belief and paranoia suggest overlap within a "conspiratorial mindset," with recent evidence that "distrust of officialdom" is a key mediator between believing in conspiracies and political ideology.
Other quantitative "cognitive quirks" reported in those who believe in conspiracies are a need for certainty and control; a need for uniqueness; illusory pattern perception; and lack of analytical thinking. It's unclear which of these factors may represent universal cognitive explanations for conspiratorial beliefs, vs those that might be related to specific beliefs, such as the need for certainty during times of crisis and societal upheaval, when conspiracy theories tend to flourish.