A Desire For Chaos Fuels The Human Obsession With Conspiracy Theories

Published January 4, 2024 By admin with Comments 0

A desire to disrupt the established political system is a strong motivator for sharing conspiracy theories, new research suggests. This is regardless of if the sharer believes the theories they’re sharing or not.

Researchers even have a term for this hunger for sabotage: a ‘need for chaos’.

While we all engage in conspiracy thinking to a certain degree, some of these beliefs can become dangerous. The increasing propagation and power of misinformation online, some fueled by vested interests, has created a strong motivation to investigate the psychology behind conspiracy thinking.

Expanding on previous research, Carleton University political scientist Christina Farhart and colleagues surveyed 3,336 individuals in the US, divided evenly across each side of the political spectrum. They posed questions to probe if the respondents were more likely to share conspiracy theories because they believed them, to sound an alarm or due to a need for chaos.

Content retrieved from: https://www.sciencealert.com/a-desire-for-chaos-fuels-the-human-obsession-with-conspiracy-theories.