|
The moon landings were faked. Elvis Presley faked his own death. The Rainbow Warrior was not in fact bombed by French agents. These statements might seem implausible, but surveys of Victoria University psychology students show that a number believe these to be true.
Dr Marc Wilson, a Senior Lecturer in Victoria University’s School of Psychology says those of us who count themselves as more rational in their beliefs tend to stereotype conspiracy theories as minority beliefs, but this isn’t the case, says.
“Since 9/11 there has been a dramatic increase in the popularity of conspiracy beliefs about a range of world, and local, events.
“It tends to happen after major events – people like to find ways of alleviating anxiety and to believe that someone is in control.”
Dr Wilson is presenting his research on conspiracy beliefs in New Zealand later this month, at the Annual Conference for the Society of Australasian Social Psychology in Brisbane. His presentation describes four studies looking at the frequency of conspiracy beliefs in student and Wellingtonian general population samples, as well as some of the psychological factors that might explain conspiracy beliefs.
Conspiracy beliefs are a relatively seldom researched area of psychology, and are more common than most people realise.
“Contrary to popular stereotype, people who spend a lot of time thinking about the causes of things are more likely to believe in conspiracies. It’s not just an uninformed position for most of them.”
Previous studies into conspiracy beliefs have found that people who are less trusting of authority are more likely to believe conspiracies.
“Interestingly, theories about Elvis and theories about aliens statistically fit. People who believe that Elvis faked his own death are also likely to believe that governments are hiding evidence of alien visits to Earth.”
Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.
|
