View source for Conspiracy theory

{{Short description|Attributing events to improbable causes}}
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[[File:Dollarnote siegel hq.jpg|thumb|The [[Eye of Providence]], as seen on the US$1 bill, has been perceived by some to be evidence of a conspiracy linking the [[Founding Fathers of the United States]] to the [[New World Order conspiracy theory]].<ref name="Barkun2003"/>{{rp|58}}<ref>{{cite book|first1=Micah|last1=Issitt|first2=Carlyn|last2=Main|title=Hidden Religion: The Greatest Mysteries and Symbols of the World's Religious Beliefs|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2014|isbn=978-1-61069-478-0}}</ref>{{rp|47–49}}]]

A '''conspiracy theory''' is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a [[conspiracy]] (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation),<ref name="Harambam-Aupers 2021">{{cite journal|last1=Harambam|first1=Jaron|last2=Aupers|first2=Stef|date=August 2021|title=From the unbelievable to the undeniable: Epistemological pluralism, or how conspiracy theorists legitimate their extraordinary truth claims|journal=[[European Journal of Cultural Studies]]|volume=24|issue=4|pages=990–1008|doi=10.1177/1367549419886045|doi-access=free|hdl=11245.1/7716b88d-4e3f-49ee-8093-253ccb344090|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Ted|last=Goertzel|date=December 1994|title=Belief in conspiracy theories|journal=[[Political Psychology]]|volume=15|issue=4|pages=731–742|doi=10.2307/3791630|jstor=3791630|quote=explanations for important events that involve secret plots by powerful and malevolent groups}}</ref><ref>{{Cite OED |conspiracy theory}} "the theory that an event or phenomenon occurs as a result of a conspiracy between interested parties; ''spec''. a belief that some covert but influential agency (typically political in motivation and oppressive in intent) is responsible for an unexplained event"</ref> when other explanations are more probable.<ref name="Harambam-Aupers 2021"/><ref name="BrothertonFrench2013">{{cite journal|last1=Brotherton|first1=Robert|last2=French|first2=Christopher C.|last3=Pickering|first3=Alan D.|title=Measuring Belief in Conspiracy Theories: The Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale|journal=Frontiers in Psychology|volume=4|year=2013|page=279|doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00279|pmid=23734136|pmc=3659314|s2cid=16685781|quote=A conspiracist belief can be described as 'the unnecessary assumption of conspiracy when other explanations are more probable'.|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="probability">Additional sources:
* {{cite book|last1=Aaronovitch|first1=David|title=Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History|date=2009|publisher=Jonathan Cape|isbn=978-0-224-07470-4|page=253|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=icxkMJK-WmgC|access-date=17 August 2019|language=en|quote=It is a contention of this book that conspiracy theorists fail to apply the principle of Occam's razor to their arguments.}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Brotherton|first1=Robert|last2=French|first2=Christopher C.|title=Belief in Conspiracy Theories and Susceptibility to the Conjunction Fallacy|journal=Applied Cognitive Psychology|volume=28|issue=2|year=2014|pages=238–248|doi=10.1002/acp.2995|quote=A conspiracy theory can be defined as an unverified and relatively implausible allegation of conspiracy, claiming that significant events are the result of a secret plot carried out by a preternaturally sinister and powerful group of people.|doi-access=free}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Jonason|first1=Peter Karl|last2=March|first2=Evita|last3=Springer|first3=Jordan|title=Belief in conspiracy theories: The predictive role of schizotypy, Machiavellianism, and primary psychopathy|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=14|issue=12|year=2019|article-number=e0225964|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0225964|pmid=31794581|pmc=6890261|bibcode=2019PLoSO..1425964M|quote=Conspiracy theories are a subset of false beliefs, and generally implicate a malevolent force (e.g., a government body or secret society) involved in orchestrating major events or providing misinformation regarding the details of events to an unwitting public, in part of a plot towards achieving a sinister goal.|doi-access=free}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Thresher-Andrews|first1=Christopher|title=An introduction into the world of conspiracy|journal=PsyPAG Quarterly|volume=1|year=2013|issue=88|pages=5–8|doi=10.53841/bpspag.2013.1.88.5|s2cid=255932379|url=http://www.psypag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Issue-88.pdf|quote=Conspiracy theories are unsubstantiated, less plausible alternatives to the mainstream explanation of the event; they assume everything is intended, with malignity. Crucially, they are also epistemically self-insulating in their construction and arguments.|archive-date=13 August 2015|access-date=12 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150813062541/http://www.psypag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Issue-88.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> The term generally has a negative [[connotation]], implying that the appeal of a conspiracy theory is based in prejudice, emotional conviction, insufficient evidence, and/or paranoia.<ref name="Byford">{{Cite book|title=Conspiracy theories: a critical introduction|last=Byford|first=Jovan|date=2011|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|isbn=978-0-230-34921-6|location=Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire|oclc=802867724}}</ref> A conspiracy theory is distinct from a conspiracy; it refers to a hypothesized conspiracy with specific characteristics, including but not limited to opposition to the mainstream consensus among those who are qualified to evaluate its accuracy, such as [[scientist]]s or [[historian]]s.<ref name="Andrade2020">{{cite journal|last=Andrade|first=Gabriel|date=April 2020|title=Medical conspiracy theories: Cognitive science and implications for ethics|url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11019-020-09951-6.pdf|url-status=live|journal=[[Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy]]|volume=23|issue=3|pages=505–518|doi=10.1007/s11019-020-09951-6|doi-access=free|pmc=7161434|pmid=32301040|s2cid=215787658|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508193924/https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11019-020-09951-6.pdf|archive-date=8 May 2020|access-date=7 October 2021}}</ref><ref name="Barkun2016"/><ref name="Brotherton2013-q"/> As such, conspiracy theories are identified as [[lay theory|lay theories]].

Conspiracy theories tend to be internally consistent and correlate with each other;<ref name="annurev-psych">{{cite journal|author1-last=Douglas|author1-first=Karen M.|author2-last=Sutton|author2-first=Robbie M.|date=January 2023|title=What Are Conspiracy Theories? A Definitional Approach to Their Correlates, Consequences, and Communication|editor-last=Fiske|editor-first=Susan T.|editor-link=Susan Fiske|journal=[[Annual Review of Psychology]]|volume=74|pages=271–298|doi=10.1146/annurev-psych-032420-031329|doi-access=free|oclc=909903176|pmid=36170672|s2cid=252597317}}</ref> they are generally designed to resist [[Falsifiability|falsification]] either by evidence against them or a lack of evidence for them.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Douglas|first1=Karen M.|last2=Sutton|first2=Robbie M.|date=12 April 2011|title=Does it take one to know one? Endorsement of conspiracy theories is influenced by personal willingness to conspire|url=http://kar.kent.ac.uk/26187/1/Douglas%20%26%20Sutton%202011%20BJSP.pdf|url-status=live|journal=[[British Journal of Social Psychology]]|volume=10|issue=3|pages=544–552|doi=10.1111/j.2044-8309.2010.02018.x|lccn=81642357|oclc=475047529|pmid=21486312|s2cid=7318352|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103180834/https://kar.kent.ac.uk/26187/1/Douglas%20%26%20Sutton%202011%20BJSP.pdf|archive-date=3 November 2018|access-date=8 May 2024}}</ref> They are reinforced by [[circular reasoning]]: both evidence against the conspiracy ''and'' absence of evidence for it are misinterpreted as evidence of its truth.<ref name="Byford"/><ref name="Keeley1999">{{Cite journal|last=Keeley|first=Brian L.|date=March 1999|title=Of Conspiracy Theories|journal=The Journal of Philosophy|volume=96|issue=3|pages=109–126|doi=10.2307/2564659|jstor=2564659}}</ref> Psychologist [[Stephan Lewandowsky]] observes "the stronger the evidence against a conspiracy, the more the conspirators must want people to believe their version of events."<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lewandowsky|first1=Stephan|last2=Gignac|first2=Gilles E.|last3=Oberauer|first3=Klaus|date=2 October 2013|editor-last=Denson|editor-first=Tom|title=The Role of Conspiracist Ideation and Worldviews in Predicting Rejection of Science|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=8|issue=10|article-number=e75637|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0075637|doi-access=free|pmc=3788812|pmid=24098391|bibcode=2013PLoSO...875637L}}</ref> As a consequence, the conspiracy becomes a matter of faith rather than something that can be proven or disproven.<ref name="Barkun2003">{{cite book|last1=Barkun|first1=Michael|author-link1=Michael Barkun|title=A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America|date=2003|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|pages=3–4|title-link=A Culture of Conspiracy}}</ref><ref name="Barkun2011">{{cite book|last1=Barkun|first1=Michael|author-link1=Michael Barkun|title=Chasing Phantoms: Reality, Imagination, and Homeland Security Since 9/11|date=2011|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|location=Chapel Hill|page=10}}</ref> Studies have linked belief in conspiracy theories to distrust of authority and political [[Cynicism (contemporary)|cynicism]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Swami|first=Viren|date=6 August 2012|title=Social Psychological Origins of Conspiracy Theories: The Case of the Jewish Conspiracy Theory in Malaysia|journal=[[Frontiers in Psychology]]|location=London, UK|volume=3|page=280|doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00280|pmc=3412387|pmid=22888323|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Radnitz|first=Scott|title=Revealing Schemes|chapter=Citizen Cynics: How People Talk and Think about Conspiracy|date=2021|pages=153–172|url=https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780197573532.001.0001/oso-9780197573532-chapter-9|publication-place=[[University of Washington]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|doi=10.1093/oso/9780197573532.003.0009|isbn=978-0-19-757353-2|access-date=17 May 2022|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Jolley|first1=Daniel|last2=Douglas|first2=Karen M.|date=20 February 2014|title=The Effects of Anti-Vaccine Conspiracy Theories on Vaccination Intentions|journal=[[PLOS One]]|language=en|publication-place=[[University of Kent]]|volume=9|issue=2|article-number=e89177|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0089177|pmc=3930676|pmid=24586574|bibcode=2014PLoSO...989177J|doi-access=free}}</ref> Some researchers suggest that '''conspiracist ideation'''—belief in conspiracy theories—may be psychologically harmful or pathological.<ref name="Freeman 595–604">{{Cite journal|last1=Freeman|first1=Daniel|last2=Bentall|first2=Richard P.|date=29 March 2017|title=The concomitants of conspiracy concerns|journal=Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology|language=en|volume=52|issue=5|pages=595–604|doi=10.1007/s00127-017-1354-4|pmc=5423964|pmid=28352955}}</ref><ref name="Barron 156–159">{{Cite journal|last1=Barron|first1=David|last2=Morgan|first2=Kevin|last3=Towell|first3=Tony|last4=Altemeyer|first4=Boris|last5=Swami|first5=Viren|date=November 2014|title=Associations between schizotypy and belief in conspiracist ideation|journal=Personality and Individual Differences|language=en|volume=70|pages=156–159|doi=10.1016/j.paid.2014.06.040|url=http://westminsterresearch.wmin.ac.uk/14570/1/1-s2.0-S0191886914003821-main.pdf}}</ref> Such belief is correlated with [[psychological projection]], [[paranoia]], and [[Machiavellianism (psychology)|Machiavellianism]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Douglas|first1=Karen M.|last2=Sutton|first2=Robbie M.|date=12 April 2011|title=Does it take one to know one? Endorsement of conspiracy theories is influenced by personal willingness to conspire|url=http://kar.kent.ac.uk/26187/1/Douglas%20%26%20Sutton%202011%20BJSP.pdf|journal=British Journal of Social Psychology|volume=10|issue=3|pages=544–552|doi=10.1111/j.2044-8309.2010.02018.x|pmid=21486312|s2cid=7318352|access-date=28 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103180834/https://kar.kent.ac.uk/26187/1/Douglas%20%26%20Sutton%202011%20BJSP.pdf|archive-date=3 November 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|pmid=20402445|date=2010|last1=Brüne|first1=M.|last2=Basilowski|first2=M.|last3=Bömmer|first3=I.|last4=Juckel|first4=G.|last5=Assion|first5=H. J.|title=Machiavellianism and executive functioning in patients with delusional disorder|journal=Psychological Reports|volume=106|issue=1|pages=205–215|doi=10.2466/PR0.106.1.205-215}}</ref>

Psychologists usually attribute belief in conspiracy theories to a number of psychopathological conditions such as [[paranoia]], [[schizotypy]], [[narcissism]], and [[insecure attachment]],<ref name="Andrade2020"/> or to a form of [[cognitive bias]] called "[[illusory pattern perception]]".<ref>{{cite web|title=Conspiracy Theorists Really Do See The World Differently, New Study Shows|url=https://www.sciencealert.com/conspiracy-theory-beliefs-illusory-pattern-perception-cognitive-science|first=Signe|last=Dean|publisher=[[Journal of Biological Sciences|Science Alert]]|date=23 October 2017|access-date=17 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Conspiracy Theorists Have a Fundamental Cognitive Problem, Say Scientists|url=https://www.inverse.com/article/37463-conspiracy-beliefs-illusory-pattern-perception|first=Sarah|last=Sloat|publisher=[[Bustle (magazine)|Inverse]]|date=17 October 2017|access-date=17 June 2020}}</ref> It has also been linked with the so-called [[Dark triad]] personality types, whose common feature is lack of [[empathy]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hughes|first1=Sara|last2=Machan|first2=Laura|date=2021|title=It's a conspiracy: Covid-19 conspiracies link to psychopathy, Machiavellianism and collective narcissism|journal=Personality and Individual Differences|language=en|volume=171|article-number=110559|doi=10.1016/j.paid.2020.110559|pmc=8035125|pmid=33867616}}</ref> However, a 2020 review article found that most [[cognitive scientist]]s view conspiracy theorizing as typically nonpathological, given that unfounded belief in conspiracy is common across both historical and contemporary cultures, and may arise from innate human tendencies towards gossip, group cohesion, and religion.<ref name="Andrade2020"/> One historical review of conspiracy theories concluded that "Evidence suggests that the aversive feelings that people experience when in crisis—fear, uncertainty, and the feeling of being out of control—stimulate a motivation to make sense of the situation, increasing the likelihood of perceiving conspiracies in social situations."<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=van Prooijen|first1=Jan-Willem|last2=Douglas|first2=Karen M|date=2017|title=Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations|journal=Memory Studies|language=en|volume=10|issue=3|pages=323–333|doi=10.1177/1750698017701615|pmc=5646574|pmid=29081831}}</ref>

Historically, conspiracy theories have been closely linked to [[prejudice]], [[propaganda]], [[witch hunt]]s, [[war]]s, and [[genocide]]s.<ref name="annurev-psych"/><ref name="DouglasUscinski2019"/><ref name="Goertzel2010"/><ref name="HR">{{cite journal|author-last=Frankfurter|author-first=David|date=February 2021|title=Religion in the Mirror of the Other: The Discursive Value of Cult-Atrocity Stories in Mediterranean Antiquity|editor1-last=Copp|editor1-first=Paul|editor2-last=Wedemeyer|editor2-first=Christian K.|editor2-link=Christian K. Wedemeyer|journal=[[History of Religions (journal)|History of Religions]] |volume=60|issue=3|pages=188–208|doi=10.1086/711943|jstor=00182710|s2cid=233429880|lccn=64001081|oclc=299661763}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author-last=Nefes|author-first=Turkay|year=2018|chapter=Framing of a Conspiracy Theory: The Efendi Series|editor1-last=Asprem|editor1-first=Egil|editor2-last=Dyrendal|editor2-first=Asbjørn|editor3-last=Robertson|editor3-first=David G.|title=Handbook of Conspiracy Theory and Contemporary Religion|location=[[Leiden]]|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|series=Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion|volume=17|doi=10.1163/9789004382022_020|isbn=978-90-04-38150-6|pages=407–422|s2cid=158560266|quote=Conspiracy theories often function as popular conduits of ethno-religious hatred and conflict.}}</ref> They are often strongly believed by the perpetrators of [[Terrorism|terrorist attacks]], and were used as justification by [[Timothy McVeigh]] and [[Anders Breivik]], as well as by governments such as [[Nazi Germany]], the [[Soviet Union]],<ref name="DouglasUscinski2019"/> and [[Conspiracy theories in Turkey|Turkey]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Göknar|first1=Erdağ|title=Conspiracy Theory in Turkey: Politics and Protest in the Age of "Post-Truth" by Julian de Medeiros (review)|journal=The Middle East Journal|date=2019|volume=73|issue=2|pages=336–337|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/730239|language=en}}</ref> [[AIDS denialism]] by the government of [[South Africa]], motivated by conspiracy theories, caused an estimated 330,000 deaths from AIDS.<ref name="Thresher-Andrews2013"/><ref name="SimelelaVenter2015"/><ref name="BurtonGiddy2015"/> [[QAnon]] and [[Election denial movement in the United States|denialism]] about the [[2020 United States presidential election]] results led to the [[January 6 United States Capitol attack]],<ref name="Nature 2021">{{cite magazine|last=Tollefson|first=Jeff|date=4 February 2021|title=Tracking QAnon: how Trump turned conspiracy-theory research upside down|url=https://media.nature.com/original/magazine-assets/d41586-021-00257-y/d41586-021-00257-y.pdf|url-status=live|magazine=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=590|pages=192–193|doi=10.1038/d41586-021-00257-y|doi-access=free|lccn=12037118|pmid=33542489|s2cid=231818589|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427105931/https://media.nature.com/original/magazine-assets/d41586-021-00257-y/d41586-021-00257-y.pdf|archive-date=27 April 2021|access-date=7 October 2021}}</ref><ref name="Crossley 2021">{{cite journal|last=Crossley|first=James|date=September 2021|title=The Apocalypse and Political Discourse in an Age of COVID|journal=[[Journal for the Study of the New Testament]]|volume=44|issue=1|pages=93–111|doi=10.1177/0142064X211025464|doi-access=free|s2cid=237329082}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=QAnon reshaped Trump's party and radicalized believers. The Capitol siege may just be the start.|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/13/qanon-capitol-siege-trump/|date=13 January 2021}}</ref> and belief in [[GMO conspiracy theories|conspiracy theories about genetically modified foods]] led the government of [[Zambia]] to reject food aid during a [[famine]],<ref name="Goertzel2010"/> at a time when three million people in the country were suffering from [[hunger]].<ref name="BrossardShanahan2007"/> Conspiracy theories are a significant obstacle to improvements in [[public health]],<ref name="Goertzel2010"/><ref name="GlickBooth2014"/> encouraging opposition to such public health measures as [[vaccination]] and [[water fluoridation]]. They have been linked to outbreaks of [[vaccine-preventable disease]]s.<ref name="Goertzel2010"/><ref name="Thresher-Andrews2013"/><ref name="GlickBooth2014"/><ref name="PrematungeCorace2012"/> Other effects of conspiracy theories include reduced trust in [[scientific evidence]],<ref name="annurev-psych"/><ref name="Goertzel2010"/><ref name="Douglas 538–542"/> radicalization and ideological reinforcement of [[extremist]] groups,<ref name="DouglasUscinski2019"/><ref name="Brotherton2015-2"/> and negative consequences for the [[economy]].<ref name="DouglasUscinski2019"/>

Conspiracy theories once limited to fringe audiences have become commonplace in [[mass media]], the [[Internet]], and [[social media]],<ref name="Andrade2020"/><ref name="annurev-psych"/> emerging as a [[cultural phenomenon]] of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.{{sfn|Barkun|2003|p=58}}<ref name="Camp 1997"/><ref name="Goldberg 2001"/><ref name="Fenster 2008"/> They are widespread around the world and are often commonly believed, some even held by the majority of the population.<ref name="van ProoijenDouglas2018"/><ref name="SunsteinVermeule2009"/><ref name="Brotherton2015-i"/> Interventions to reduce the occurrence of conspiracy beliefs include maintaining an [[open society]], encouraging people to use [[analytical thinking]], and reducing feelings of uncertainty, anxiety, or powerlessness.<ref name="Douglas 538–542"/><ref name="van ProoijenDouglas2018"/><ref name="SunsteinVermeule2009"/><ref name="LewandowskyCook2020"/>

== Origin and usage ==
The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' defines ''conspiracy theory'' as "the theory that an event or phenomenon occurs as a result of a conspiracy between interested parties; ''spec.'' a belief that some covert but influential agency (typically political in motivation and oppressive in intent) is responsible for an unexplained event". It cites a 1909 article in ''[[The American Historical Review]]'' as the earliest usage example,<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition on CD-ROM'' (v. 4.0), Oxford University Press, 2009, s.v. '''4'''</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Johnson|first=Allen|title=Reviewed Work: ''The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise: Its Origin and Authorship'' by P. Orman Ray|journal=[[The American Historical Review]]|volume=14|issue=4|pages=835–836|doi=10.2307/1837085|jstor=1837085|date=July 1909|hdl=2027/loc.ark:/13960/t27948c87|url=https://archive.org/details/missouricomp00rayprich|quote=The claim that [David R.] Atchison was the originator of the [Missouri Compromise] repeal may be termed a recrudescence of the conspiracy theory first asserted by Colonel John A. Parker of Virginia in 1880.|hdl-access=free}}</ref> although it also appeared in print for several decades before.<ref name="JoMS-1870">{{cite journal|journal=The Journal of Mental Science|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VsRMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA141|last1=Robertson|first1=Lockhart<!--author Robertson as listed on page 134 of the journal-->|author2=Association of Medical Officers of Asylums and Hospitals for the Insane (London, England)|author3=Medico-psychological Association of Great Britain and Ireland|author4=Royal Medico-psychological Association<!-- authors 2-4 as listed at WorldCat oclc=1194357571-->|title=The Report of a Quarterly Meeting of the Medico-Psychological Association, held in London at the Royal Medico-Chirurgical Society, by permission of the President and Council, on the 27th January, 1870. [in Part IV. Psychological News.]|editor1-last=Maudsley|editor1-first=Henry|editor2-last=Sibbald|editor2-first=John|volume=XVI|number=73|location=London|date=April 1870|publisher=[[Longman, Green, Longman, & Roberts]]<!--frontispiece lists [[J. & A. Churchill]]; google books and WorldCat both list Longman-->|oclc=4642826321|quote=The theory of Dr. Sankey as to the manner in which these injuries to the chest occurred in asylums deserved our careful attention. It was at least more plausible that the conspiracy theory of Mr. Charles Reade, and the precautionary measure suggested by Dr. Sankey of using a padded waistcoat in recent cases of mania with general paralysis—in which mental condition nearly all these cases under discussion were—seemed to him of practical value.}}</ref>

The earliest known usage was by the American author [[Charles Astor Bristed]], in a letter to the editor published in ''[[The New York Times]]'' on 11 January 1863.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news|last1=Bristed|first1=C. A.|title=English Insincerity on the Slavery Question.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96772461/first-use-of-conspiracy-theory-by/|access-date=2 March 2022|work=The New York Times|date=11 January 1863|page=3}}</ref> He used it to refer to claims that British aristocrats were intentionally [[United Kingdom and the American Civil War|weakening the United States during the American Civil War]] in order to advance their financial interests.

{{blockquote |text=England has had quite enough to do in Europe and Asia, without going out of her way to meddle with America. It was a physical and moral impossibility that she could be carrying on a gigantic conspiracy against us. But our masses, having only a rough general knowledge of foreign affairs, and not unnaturally somewhat exaggerating the space which we occupy in the world's eye, do not appreciate the complications which rendered such a conspiracy impossible. They only look at the sudden right-about-face movement of the English Press and public, which is most readily accounted for on the conspiracy theory.<ref name="nyt"/>}}

The term is also used as a way to discredit [[Dissenting opinion|dissenting]] analyses.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Starcevic|first1=Vladan|last2=Brakoulias|first2=Vlasios|date=14 April 2021|title='Things are not what they seem to be': A proposal for the spectrum approach to conspiracy beliefs|journal=Australasian Psychiatry|volume=29|issue=5|pages=535–539|doi=10.1177/10398562211008182|pmid=33852369|s2cid=233242206|doi-access=free}}</ref><!-- Quote from said ref, "the term 'conspiracy theories' is often misused [...] especially [...] to disqualify the opponents"<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Starcevic|first=Vladan|last2=Brakoulias|first2=Vlasios|date=14 April 2021|title='Things are not what they seem to be': A proposal for the spectrum approach to conspiracy beliefs|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/00027642093532|journal=Australasian Psychiatry|volume=29|issue=5|pages=535–539|via=Sage Journals}}</ref>}}--> Robert Blaskiewicz comments that examples of the term were used as early as the nineteenth century and states that its usage has always been derogatory.<ref name="CSICOP">{{cite web|url=http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/nope_it_was_always_already_wrong|title=Nope, It Was Always Already Wrong|last1=Blaskiewicz|first1=Robert|website=The Skeptical Inquirer|publisher=Committee for Skeptical Inquiry|access-date=11 December 2015|date=8 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151212122454/http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/nope_it_was_always_already_wrong|archive-date=12 December 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> According to a study by Andrew McKenzie-McHarg, in contrast, in the nineteenth century the term ''conspiracy theory'' simply "suggests a plausible postulate of a conspiracy" and "did not, at this stage, carry any connotations, either negative or positive", though sometimes a postulate so-labeled was criticized.<ref>McKenzie-McHarg, Andrew (2019) "Conspiracy Theory: The Nineteenth-Century Prehistory of a Twentieth-Century Concept", pp. 78, 76. In Joseph E. Uscinski (ed) ''Conspiracy Theories & the People Who Believe Them''. New York: Oxford University Press.</ref> The author and activist [[George Monbiot]] argued that the terms "conspiracy theory" and "conspiracy theorist" are misleading, as conspiracies truly exist and [[theories]] are "rational explanations subject to disproof". Instead, he proposed the terms "conspiracy fiction" and "conspiracy fantasist".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Monbiot|first=George|author-link=George Monbiot|date=4 May 2024|title='You're going to call me a Holocaust denier now, are you?': George Monbiot comes face to face with his local conspiracy theorist|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/may/04/youre-going-to-call-me-a-holocaust-denier-now-are-you-george-monbiot-comes-face-to-face-with-his-local-conspiracy-theorist|access-date=4 May 2024|work=The Guardian|language=en-GB}}</ref>

=== Alleged CIA origins ===
[[File:WarrenReport-cover1.jpg|[[The Warren Report]]|thumb]]

The term "conspiracy theory" is itself the subject of a conspiracy theory, which posits that the term was popularized by the [[CIA]] in order to discredit conspiratorial believers, particularly critics of the [[Warren Commission]], by making them a target of ridicule.<ref name="Brotherton2015-4">{{cite book|author=Robert Brotherton|title=Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories|chapter=Chapter 4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=awrcCQAAQBAJ|date=19 November 2015|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4729-1564-1}}</ref> In his 2013 book ''Conspiracy Theory in America'', the political scientist Lance deHaven-Smith wrote that the term entered everyday language in the United States after 1964, the year in which the Warren Commission published its findings on the [[assassination of John F. Kennedy]], with ''The New York Times'' running five stories that year using the term.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TilCeCKDujQC|title=Conspiracy Theory in America|last1=deHaven-Smith|first1=Lance|date=15 April 2013|isbn=978-0-292-74379-3|page=3|publisher=University of Texas Press|quote=The term 'conspiracy theory' did not exist as a phrase in everyday American conversation before 1964.&nbsp;... In 1964, the year the Warren Commission issued its report, ''The New York Times'' published five stories in which 'conspiracy theory' appeared.|access-date=27 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160906032935/https://books.google.com/books?id=TilCeCKDujQC&printsec=frontcover|archive-date=6 September 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

Whether the CIA was responsible for popularising the term "conspiracy theory" was analyzed by Michael Butter, a Professor of American Literary and Cultural History at the [[University of Tübingen]]. Butter wrote in 2020 that the CIA document ''Concerning Criticism of the Warren Report'', which proponents of the theory use as evidence of CIA motive and intention, does not contain the phrase "conspiracy theory" in the singular, and only uses the term "conspiracy theories" once, in the sentence: "Conspiracy theories have frequently thrown suspicion on our organisation {{sic}}, for example, by falsely alleging that [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] worked for us."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Butter|first1=Michael|title=There's a conspiracy theory that the CIA invented the term 'conspiracy theory' – here's why|url=https://theconversation.com/theres-a-conspiracy-theory-that-the-cia-invented-the-term-conspiracy-theory-heres-why-132117|website=The Conversation|publisher=The Conversation Trust (UK) Limited|access-date=23 November 2020|date=16 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=6 January 2023 |title='Conspiracy theory' coined long before JFK assassination |url=https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-conspiracy-theory-jfk-941578119864 |access-date=17 June 2025 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref>

==Difference from conspiracy==
A conspiracy theory is not simply a [[conspiracy]], which refers to any covert plan involving two or more people.<ref name="Barkun2016"/> In contrast, the term "conspiracy theory" refers to ''hypothesized'' conspiracies that have specific characteristics. For example, conspiracist beliefs invariably oppose the mainstream consensus among those people who are qualified to evaluate their accuracy, such as [[scientist]]s or [[historian]]s.<ref name="Brotherton2013-q">{{cite journal|last1=Brotherton|first1=Robert|year=2013|title=Towards a definition of 'conspiracy theory'|url=http://www.psypag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Issue-88.pdf|journal=PsyPAG Quarterly|volume=1|issue=88|pages=9–14|doi=10.53841/bpspag.2013.1.88.9|s2cid=141788005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007174759/http://www.psypag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Issue-88.pdf|archive-date=7 October 2013|quote=A conspiracy theory is not merely one candidate explanation among other equally plausible alternatives. Rather, the label refers to a claim which runs counter to a more plausible and widely accepted account...[Conspiratorial beliefs are] invariably at odds with the mainstream consensus among scientists, historians, or other legitimate judges of the claim's veracity.}}</ref> Conspiracy theorists see themselves as having privileged access to socially persecuted knowledge or a stigmatized mode of thought that separates them from the masses who believe the official account.<ref name="Barkun2016">{{cite journal|author-last=Barkun|author-first=Michael|author-link=Michael Barkun|date=October 2016|title=Conspiracy Theories as Stigmatized Knowledge|editor1-last=Campion-Vincent|editor1-first=Véronique|editor2-last=Renard|editor2-first=Jean-Bruno|journal=[[Diogenes (journal)|Diogenes]]|volume=62|issue=3–4 |pages=114–120|doi=10.1177/0392192116669288|lccn=55003452|s2cid=152217672}}</ref> [[Michael Barkun]] describes a conspiracy theory as a "template imposed upon the world to give the appearance of order to events".<ref name="Barkun2016"/>

Real conspiracies, even very simple ones, are difficult to conceal and routinely experience unexpected problems.<ref name="Brotherton2013"/> In contrast, conspiracy theories suggest that conspiracies are unrealistically successful and that groups of conspirators, such as [[bureaucracies]], can act with near-perfect competence and secrecy. The causes of events or situations are simplified to exclude complex or interacting factors, as well as the role of chance and unintended consequences. Nearly all observations are explained as having been deliberately planned by the alleged conspirators.<ref name="Brotherton2013">{{cite journal|last1=Brotherton|first1=Robert|year=2013|title=Towards a definition of 'conspiracy theory'|url=http://www.psypag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Issue-88.pdf|journal=PsyPAG Quarterly|volume=1|issue=88|pages=9–14|doi=10.53841/bpspag.2013.1.88.9|s2cid=141788005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007174759/http://www.psypag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Issue-88.pdf|archive-date=7 October 2013}}</ref>

In conspiracy theories, the conspirators are usually claimed to be acting with extreme malice.<ref name="Brotherton2013"/> As described by Robert Brotherton:

{{blockquote|The malevolent intent assumed by most conspiracy theories goes far beyond everyday plots borne out of self-interest, corruption, cruelty, and criminality. The postulated conspirators are not merely people with selfish agendas or differing values. Rather, conspiracy theories postulate a black-and-white world in which good is struggling against evil. The general public is cast as the victim of organised persecution, and the motives of the alleged conspirators often verge on pure maniacal evil. At the very least, the conspirators are said to have an almost inhuman disregard for the basic liberty and well-being of the general population. More grandiose conspiracy theories portray the conspirators as being Evil Incarnate: of having caused all the ills from which we suffer, committing abominable acts of unthinkable cruelty on a routine basis, and striving ultimately to subvert or destroy everything we hold dear.<ref name="Brotherton2013"/>}}

==Examples==
{{Further|List of conspiracy theories}}

A conspiracy theory may take any matter as its subject, but certain subjects attract greater interest than others. Favored subjects include famous deaths and assassinations, morally dubious government activities, suppressed technologies, and "[[false flag]]" terrorism. Among the best-known conspiracy theories relate to the [[John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories|assassination of John F. Kennedy]], the [[Moon landing conspiracy theories|1969 Apollo Moon landings]], and the [[9/11 conspiracy theories|9/11 terrorist attacks]], as well as numerous theories pertaining to alleged plots for world domination by various groups, both real and imaginary.<ref>{{Cite news|title=History's greatest conspiracy theories|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03/16/historys-greatest-conspiracy-theories/|date=12 November 2008|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=5 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180312171616/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03/16/historys-greatest-conspiracy-theories/|archive-date=12 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Popularity==
Conspiracy beliefs are widespread around the world.<ref name="van ProoijenDouglas2018"/> In rural Africa, common targets of conspiracy theorizing include societal elites, enemy tribes, and the Western world, with conspirators often alleged to enact their plans via sorcery or witchcraft; one common belief identifies modern technology as itself being a form of sorcery, created with the goal of harming or controlling the people.<ref name="van ProoijenDouglas2018"/> In China, one widely published conspiracy theory claims that a number of events including the [[rise of Hitler]], the [[1997 Asian financial crisis]], and [[climate change]] were planned by the [[Rothschild family]], which may have led to effects on discussions about [[Monetary policy of China|China's currency policy]].<ref name="SunsteinVermeule2009"/><ref name="Byford2011">{{cite book|author=J. Byford|title=Conspiracy Theories: A Critical Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m5Er9ELOwQkC|date=12 October 2011|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-230-34921-6|pages=7–8}}</ref>

Conspiracy theories once limited to fringe audiences have become commonplace in [[mass media]], contributing to conspiracism emerging as a [[cultural phenomenon]] in the United States of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.{{sfn|Barkun|2003|p=58}}<ref name="Camp 1997">{{Cite book|title=Selling Fear: Conspiracy Theories and End-Times Paranoia|author=Camp, Gregory S.|publisher=Commish Walsh|year=1997|asin=B000J0N8NC}}</ref><ref name="Goldberg 2001">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/enemieswithincul00gold_0|title=Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America|author=Goldberg, Robert Alan|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2001|isbn=978-0-300-09000-0|access-date=6 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217045836/https://archive.org/details/enemieswithincul00gold_0|archive-date=17 December 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Fenster 2008">{{Cite book|title=Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture|author=Fenster, Mark|publisher=University of Minnesota Press |edition=2nd|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8166-5494-9}}</ref> The general predisposition to believe conspiracy theories cuts across partisan and ideological lines. Conspiratorial thinking is correlated with antigovernmental orientations and a low sense of political efficacy, with conspiracy believers perceiving a governmental threat to individual rights and displaying a deep skepticism that who one votes for really matters.<ref>Adam M. Enders, "Conspiratorial Thinking and Political Constraint". ''Public Opinion Quarterly'' 83.3 (2019): 510–533.</ref>

Conspiracy theories are often commonly believed, some even being held by the majority of the population.<ref name="van ProoijenDouglas2018"/><ref name="SunsteinVermeule2009"/><ref name="Brotherton2015-i">{{cite book|author=Robert Brotherton|title=Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories|chapter=Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=awrcCQAAQBAJ|date=19 November 2015|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4729-1564-1}}</ref> A broad cross-section of Americans today gives credence to at least some conspiracy theories.<ref>{{cite book|last1=West|first1=Harry G.|last2=Sanders|first2=Todd|year=2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HeMdeV_LvAMC&pg=PP9|title=Transparency and conspiracy: ethnographies of suspicion in the new world order|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-3024-0|page=4|access-date=18 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122093329/https://books.google.com/books?id=HeMdeV_LvAMC&pg=PP9|archive-date=22 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> For instance, a study conducted in 2016 found that 10% of Americans think the [[chemtrail conspiracy theory]] is "completely true" and 20–30% think it is "somewhat true".<ref name="Gizearth"/> This puts "the equivalent of 120 million Americans in the 'chemtrails are real' camp".<ref name="Gizearth">{{cite news|last=Kahn|first=Brian|date=2 November 2017|title=There's a Damn Good Chance Your Neighbor Thinks Chemtrails Are Real|url=https://earther.gizmodo.com/theres-a-damn-good-chance-your-neighbor-thinks-chemtrai-1820077077|work=Gizmodo Earther|access-date=5 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190307173758/https://earther.gizmodo.com/theres-a-damn-good-chance-your-neighbor-thinks-chemtrai-1820077077|archive-date=7 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Belief in conspiracy theories has therefore become a topic of interest for sociologists, psychologists and experts in [[folklore]].

Conspiracy theories are widely present on the [[World Wide Web|Web]] in the form of [[blog]]s and [[YouTube]] videos, as well as on [[social media]]. Whether the Web has increased the prevalence of conspiracy theories or not is an open research question.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Wood, M.|title=Has the Internet been good for conspiracy theorising?|journal=Psychology Postgraduate Affairs Group (PsyPAG) Quarterly|year=2015|number=88|pages=31–33|url=http://www.psypag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Issue-88.pdf|access-date=12 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150813062541/http://www.psypag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Issue-88.pdf|archive-date=13 August 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The presence and representation of conspiracy theories in [[search engine]] results has been monitored and studied, showing significant variation across different topics, and a general absence of reputable, high-quality links in the results.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Ballatore, A.|title=Google chemtrails: A methodology to analyze topic representation in search engine results|journal=[[First Monday (journal)|First Monday]]|year=2015|volume=20|number=7|doi=10.5210/fm.v20i7.5597|doi-access=free}}</ref>

One conspiracy theory that propagated through former US President Barack Obama's time in office<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Enders|first1=Adam M.|last2=Smallpage|first2=Steven M.|last3=Lupton|first3=Robert N.|date=9 July 2018|title=Are All 'Birthers' Conspiracy Theorists? On the Relationship Between Conspiratorial Thinking and Political Orientations|journal=British Journal of Political Science|volume=50|issue=3|pages=849–866|doi=10.1017/s0007123417000837|s2cid=149762298}}</ref> claimed that he was [[Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories|born in Kenya, instead of Hawaii where he was actually born]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sweek|first=Joel|date=October 2006|title=Michael Barkun. A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. xii+243 pp. $24.95 (cloth).|journal=The Journal of Religion|volume=86|issue=4|pages=691–692|doi=10.1086/509680}}</ref> Former governor of Arkansas and political opponent of Obama [[Mike Huckabee]] made headlines in 2011<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hunt|first=Albert R.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/us/04iht-letter04.html|title=Republicans Ride Theories of the Fringe|date=3 April 2011|work=The New York Times|agency=[[Bloomberg News]]|access-date=23 April 2020|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408044013/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/us/04iht-letter04.html|archive-date=8 April 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> when he, among other members of [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] leadership, continued to question Obama's citizenship status.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+colspan=3 align=center|'''Belief in conspiracy theories in the United States, December 2020 – NPR/Ipsos poll, ±3.3%'''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/12/30/951095644/even-if-its-bonkers-poll-finds-many-believe-qanon-and-other-conspiracy-theories|title=Even If It's 'Bonkers,' Poll Finds Many Believe QAnon And Other Conspiracy Theories|work=NPR |date=30 December 2020 |publisher=[[NPR]] |last1=Rose |first1=Joel}}</ref>
|-
! Conspiracy theory
! Believe
! Not sure
|-
|"A group of Satan-worshipping elites who run a child sex ring are trying to control our politics and media" ([[QAnon]])
| {{right|17%}}
| {{right|37%}}
|-
| "Several mass shootings in recent years were staged hoaxes" ([[crisis actor]] theory)
| {{right|12%}}
| {{right|27%}}
|-
| [[Barack Obama]] was not born in the United States ([[birtherism]])
| {{right|19%}}
| {{right|22%}}
|-
| [[Moon landing conspiracy theories]]
| {{right|8%}}
| {{right|20%}}
|-
| [[9/11 conspiracy theories]]
| {{right|7%}}
| {{right|20%}}
|}

==Types==
A conspiracy theory can be local or international, focused on single events or covering multiple incidents and entire countries, regions and periods of history.<ref name="Barkun2016"/> According to [[Russell Muirhead]] and [[Nancy Rosenblum]], historically, traditional conspiracism has entailed a "theory", but over time, "conspiracy" and "theory" have become decoupled, as modern conspiracism is often without any kind of theory behind it.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Muirhead|first1=Russell|last2=Rosenblum|first2=Nancy L.|date=1 February 2021|title=Will Reality Bite Back: Conspiratorial Fictions and the Assault on Democracy|journal=The Forum|language=en|volume=18|issue=3|pages=415–433|doi=10.1515/for-2020-2016|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Muirhead|first1=Russell|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv941trn|title=A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy|last2=Rosenblum|first2=Nancy L.|date=2019|publisher=Princeton University Press|doi=10.2307/j.ctv941trn|jstor=j.ctv941trn|isbn=978-0-691-18883-6|s2cid=159357706}}</ref>

===Walker's five kinds===
[[Jesse Walker]] (2013) has identified five kinds of conspiracy theories:<ref>[[Jesse Walker]], ''The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory'' (2013) [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062135554 excerpt and text search] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190512054322/https://www.amazon.com/United-States-Paranoia-Conspiracy-Theory/dp/0062135554 |date=12 May 2019}}</ref>

* The "Enemy Outside" refers to theories based on figures alleged to be scheming against a community from without.
* The "Enemy Within" finds the conspirators lurking inside the nation, indistinguishable from ordinary citizens.
* The "Enemy Above" involves powerful people manipulating events for their own gain.
* The "Enemy Below" features the lower classes working to overturn the social order.
* The "Benevolent Conspiracies" are angelic forces that work behind the scenes to improve the world and help people.

===Barkun's three types===
[[Michael Barkun]] has identified three classifications of conspiracy theory:{{sfn|Barkun|2003|p=6}}

* ''Event conspiracy theories''. This refers to limited and well-defined events. Examples may include such conspiracy theories as those concerning the [[Kennedy assassination conspiracies|Kennedy assassination]], [[9/11]], and the [[discredited AIDS origins theories|spread of AIDS]].
* ''Systemic conspiracy theories''. The conspiracy is believed to have broad goals, usually conceived as securing control of a country, a region, or even the entire world. The goals are sweeping, whilst the conspiratorial machinery is generally simple: a single, evil organization implements a plan to infiltrate and subvert existing institutions. This is a common scenario in conspiracy theories that focus on the alleged machinations of [[International Jewish conspiracy|Jews]], [[Masonic conspiracy theories|Freemasons]], [[Red Scare|Communism]], or the [[Vatican conspiracy theories|Catholic Church]].
* ''Superconspiracy theories''. For Barkun, such theories link multiple alleged conspiracies together hierarchically. At the summit is a distant but all-powerful evil force. His cited examples are the ideas of [[David Icke]] and [[Milton William Cooper]].

===Rothbard: shallow vs. deep===
[[Murray Rothbard]] argues in favor of a model that contrasts "deep" conspiracy theories to "shallow" ones. According to Rothbard, a "shallow" theorist observes an event and asks ''[[Cui bono]]?'' ("Who benefits?"), jumping to the conclusion that a posited beneficiary is responsible for covertly influencing events. On the other hand, the "deep" conspiracy theorist begins with a hunch and then seeks out evidence. Rothbard describes this latter activity as a matter of confirming with certain facts one's initial paranoia.<ref>{{cite journal|first=B.K.|last=Marcus|url=https://mises.org/library/radio-free-rothbard|title=Radio Free Rothbard|journal=[[Journal of Libertarian Studies]]|volume=20|issue=1|date=2006|pages=17–51|access-date=24 August 2023}}</ref>

==Lack of evidence==
Belief in conspiracy theories is generally based not on evidence but on the faith of the believer.{{sfn|Barkun|2003|p=7}} As such conspiracy theories are identified as [[lay theory|lay theories]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Douglas |first1=Karen M. |last2=Sutton |first2=Robbie M. |date=18 January 2023 |title=What Are Conspiracy Theories? A Definitional Approach to Their Correlates, Consequences, and Communication |journal=Annual Review of Psychology |language=en |volume=74 |issue=1 |pages=271–298 |doi=10.1146/annurev-psych-032420-031329 |pmid=36170672 |issn=0066-4308|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Furnham |first=Adrian |date=1 February 2023 |title=Just world beliefs, personal success and beliefs in conspiracy theories |journal=Current Psychology |language=en |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=2636–2642 |doi=10.1007/s12144-021-01576-z |issn=1936-4733 |pmc=7971358 |pmid=33758484}}</ref> [[Noam Chomsky]] contrasts conspiracy theory to [[institutional analysis]], which focuses mainly on the public, long-term behavior of publicly known institutions, as recorded in, for example, scholarly documents or [[mainstream media]] reports.<ref name="WintonickQuébec)1994">{{cite book|editor-last=Achbar|editor-first=Mark|year=1994|title=Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media|url=https://archive.org/details/manufacturingcon00achb|url-access=registration|publisher=Black Rose Books Ltd.|isbn=978-1-55164-002-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/manufacturingcon00achb/page/131 131]}}</ref> Conspiracy theory conversely posits the existence of secretive coalitions of individuals and speculates on their alleged activities.<ref>{{cite book|title=Conspiracy Panics: Political Rationality and Popular Culture|author=Jack Z. Bratich|publisher=State University of New York Press, Albany|pages=98–100|access-date=16 June 2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CaDA2uhr8lkC|isbn=978-0-7914-7334-4|date=7 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418133830/https://books.google.com/books?id=CaDA2uhr8lkC&printsec=frontcover|archive-date=18 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Conspiracy Theories: A Critical Introduction|author=Jovan Byford|publisher=Palgrave MacMillan|pages=25–27|access-date=16 June 2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m5Er9ELOwQkC|isbn=978-0-230-34921-6|date=12 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125180033/http://books.google.com/books?id=m5Er9ELOwQkC&printsec=frontcover|archive-date=25 January 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Belief in conspiracy theories is associated with biases in reasoning, such as the [[conjunction fallacy]].<ref name="BrothertonFrench2014">{{cite journal|last1=Brotherton|first1=Robert|last2=French|first2=Christopher C.|title=Belief in Conspiracy Theories and Susceptibility to the Conjunction Fallacy|journal=Applied Cognitive Psychology|volume=28|issue=2|year=2014|pages=238–248|doi=10.1002/acp.2995|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Clare Birchall at [[King's College London]] describes conspiracy theory as a "form of popular knowledge or interpretation".{{efn|Birchall 2006: "[W]e can appreciate conspiracy theory as a unique form of popular knowledge or interpretation, ''and'' address what this might mean for any knowledge we produce about it or how we interpret it."<ref name="Birchall2006">{{cite book|last=Birchall|first=Clare|contribution=Cultural studies on/as conspiracy theory|editor-last=Birchall|editor-first=Clare|title=Knowledge goes pop from conspiracy theory to gossip|publisher=Berg|location=Oxford, New York|year=2006|isbn=978-1-84520-143-2}}</ref>{{rp|66}}}} The use of the word 'knowledge' here suggests ways in which conspiracy theory may be considered in relation to legitimate modes of knowing.{{efn|Birchall 2006: "What we quickly discover&nbsp;... is that it becomes impossible to map conspiracy theory and academic discourse onto a clear illegitimate/legitimate divide."<ref name="Birchall2006"/>{{rp|72}}}} The relationship between legitimate and illegitimate knowledge, Birchall claims, is closer than common dismissals of conspiracy theory contend.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Birchall|first=Clare|title=Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you|journal=Culture Machine, Deconstruction Is/In Cultural Studies|volume=6|year=2004|url=http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/view/12/11|access-date=11 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923211857/http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/view/12/11|archive-date=23 September 2015}}</ref>

Theories involving multiple conspirators that are proven to be correct, such as the [[Watergate scandal]], are usually referred to as [[investigative journalism]] or [[historical analysis]] rather than conspiracy theory.<ref name="knight-2003">{{cite book|author=Peter Knight|title=Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qMIDrggs8TsC&pg=PA730|date=1 January 2003|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-812-9|pages=730–|access-date=27 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160906162011/https://books.google.com/books?id=qMIDrggs8TsC&pg=PA730|archive-date=6 September 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Bjerg (2016) writes: "the way we normally use the term conspiracy theory excludes instances where the theory has been generally accepted as true. The Watergate scandal serves as the standard reference."<ref name="bjerg1">{{cite journal|last1=Bjerg|first1=Ole|title=Conspiracy Theory: Truth Claim or Language Game?|journal=Theory, Culture & Society|date=2016|volume=34|issue=1|pages=7–8|doi=10.1177/0263276416657880|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0263276416657880?journalCode=tcsa|access-date=24 April 2024|quote=It also seems to be the case that the way we normally use the term conspiracy theory excludes instances where the theory has been generally accepted as true...Just as the Watergate scandal is now part of the official account of the Nixon administration, the NSA monitoring practices are arguably also part of our present understanding of the way that US intelligence works and neither thus qualify as 'conspiracy theories' anymore. The point here is that when we employ the term 'conspiracy theory' in actual language use, we are implicitly assuming and implying that the claims advanced by the theory are not true.|hdl=10398/815ad149-79b0-4000-9d07-327893a24ee6|hdl-access=free|url-access=subscription}}</ref> By contrast, the term "Watergate conspiracy theory" is used to refer to a variety of hypotheses in which those convicted in the conspiracy were in fact the victims of a deeper conspiracy.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Ron Rosenbaum|title=Ah, Watergate|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/104169/ah-watergate|year=2012|magazine=New Republic|access-date=29 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806155414/https://newrepublic.com/article/104169/ah-watergate|archive-date=6 August 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> There are also attempts to analyze the theory of conspiracy theories (conspiracy theory theory) to ensure that the term "conspiracy theory" is used to refer to narratives that have been debunked by experts, rather than as a generalized dismissal.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Bigliardi|first=Stefano|date=July–August 2020|title=Who's Afraid Of Conspiracy Theory Theory?|magazine=[[Skeptical Inquirer]]|location=Amherst, New York|publisher=[[Center for Inquiry]]}}</ref>

==Rhetoric==

Conspiracy theory rhetoric exploits several important [[cognitive bias]]es, including [[proportionality bias]], [[attribution bias]], and [[confirmation bias]].<ref name="Thresher-Andrews2013">{{cite journal|last1=Thresher-Andrews|first1=Christopher|title=An introduction into the world of conspiracy|journal=PsyPAG Quarterly|volume=1|year=2013|issue=88|pages=5–8|doi=10.53841/bpspag.2013.1.88.5|s2cid=255932379|url=http://www.psypag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Issue-88.pdf|archive-date=13 August 2015|access-date=12 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150813062541/http://www.psypag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Issue-88.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Their arguments often take the form of asking reasonable questions, but without providing an answer based on strong evidence.<ref>Novella, Steven, et al. ''The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake''. Grand Central Publishing, 2018. p. 208.</ref> Conspiracy theories are most successful when proponents can gather followers from the general public, such as in politics, religion and journalism. These proponents may not necessarily believe the conspiracy theory; instead, they may just use it in an attempt to gain public approval. Conspiratorial claims can act as a successful rhetorical strategy to convince a portion of the public via [[appeal to emotion]].<ref name="Goertzel2010"/>

Conspiracy theories typically justify themselves by focusing on gaps or ambiguities in knowledge, and then arguing that the true explanation for this [[Argument from ignorance|must be a conspiracy]].<ref name="Brotherton2013"/> In contrast, any evidence that directly supports their claims is generally of low quality. For example, conspiracy theories are often dependent on [[eyewitness testimony]], despite its unreliability, while disregarding objective analyses of the evidence.<ref name="Brotherton2013"/>

Conspiracy theories are not able to be [[falsified]] and are reinforced by [[fallacious arguments]]. In particular, the logical fallacy [[circular reasoning]] is used by conspiracy theorists: both evidence against the conspiracy and an absence of evidence for it are re-interpreted as evidence of its truth,<ref name="Byford"/><ref name="Keeley1999"/> whereby the conspiracy becomes a matter of faith rather than something that can be proved or disproved.<ref name="Barkun2003"/><ref name="Barkun2011"/> The epistemic strategy of conspiracy theories has been called "cascade logic": each time new evidence becomes available, a conspiracy theory is able to dismiss it by claiming that even more people must be part of the cover-up.<ref name="Goertzel2010"/><ref name="Brotherton2013"/> Any information that contradicts the conspiracy theory is suggested to be disinformation by the alleged conspiracy.<ref name="Douglas 538–542"/> Similarly, the continued lack of evidence directly supporting conspiracist claims is portrayed as confirming the existence of a conspiracy of silence; the fact that other people have not found or exposed any conspiracy is taken as evidence that those people are part of the plot, rather than considering that it may be because no conspiracy exists.<ref name="Thresher-Andrews2013"/><ref name="Brotherton2013"/> This strategy lets conspiracy theories insulate themselves from neutral analyses of the evidence, and makes them resistant to questioning or correction, which is called "epistemic self-insulation".<ref name="Thresher-Andrews2013"/><ref name="Brotherton2013"/>

[[File:False balance in climate science.png|thumb|upright=1.3|In 2013, 97% of peer-reviewed climate science papers that took a position on the cause of global warming said that humans are responsible, 3% said they were not. Among [[Fox News]] guests the same year, this was presented as a false balance between the two viewpoints, with 31% of invited guests believing it was happening and 69% not.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Nuccitelli|first1=Dana|title=Fox News defends global warming false balance by denying the 97% consensus|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2013/oct/23/climate-change-climate-change-scepticism|access-date=5 October 2023|work=The Guardian|date=23 October 2013}}</ref>]]
Conspiracy theorists often take advantage of [[false balance]] in the media. They may claim to be presenting a legitimate alternative viewpoint that deserves equal time to argue its case; for example, this strategy has been used by the [[Teach the Controversy]] campaign to promote [[intelligent design]], which often claims that there is a conspiracy of scientists suppressing their views. If they successfully find a platform to present their views in a debate format, they focus on using rhetorical ''[[ad hominem]]s'' and attacking perceived flaws in the mainstream account, while avoiding any discussion of the shortcomings in their own position.<ref name="Goertzel2010"/>

The typical approach of conspiracy theories is to challenge any action or statement from authorities, using even the most tenuous justifications. Responses are then assessed using a double standard, where failing to provide an immediate response to the satisfaction of the conspiracy theorist will be claimed to prove a conspiracy. Any minor errors in the response are heavily emphasized, while deficiencies in the arguments of other proponents are generally excused.<ref name="Goertzel2010"/>

In science, conspiracists may suggest that a [[scientific theory]] can be disproven by a single perceived deficiency, even though such events are extremely rare. In addition, both disregarding the claims and attempting to address them will be interpreted as proof of a conspiracy.<ref name="Goertzel2010"/> Other conspiracist arguments may not be scientific; for example, in response to the [[IPCC Second Assessment Report]] in 1996, much of the opposition centered on promoting a procedural objection to the report's creation. Specifically, it was claimed that part of the procedure reflected a conspiracy to silence dissenters, which served as motivation for opponents of the report and successfully redirected a significant amount of the public discussion away from the science.<ref name="Goertzel2010"/>

==Consequences==
[[File:Das jüdische Komplott Parole der Woche December 1941 crop.jpg|thumb|Third Reich Nazi antisemitic propaganda poster entitled ''Das jüdische Komplott'' ("The Jewish Conspiracy")]]
Historically, conspiracy theories have been closely linked to [[prejudice]], [[witch hunt]]s, [[war]]s, and [[genocide]]s.<ref name="DouglasUscinski2019"/><ref name="Goertzel2010"/> They are often strongly believed by the perpetrators of [[terrorist]] attacks, and were used as justification by [[Timothy McVeigh]], [[Anders Breivik]] and [[Brenton Tarrant]], as well as by governments such as [[Nazi Germany]] and the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="DouglasUscinski2019"/> [[AIDS denialism]] by the government of [[South Africa]], motivated by conspiracy theories, caused an estimated 330,000 deaths from AIDS,<ref name="Thresher-Andrews2013"/><ref name="SimelelaVenter2015">{{cite journal|last1=Simelela|first1=Nono|last2=Venter|first2=W. D. Francois|last3=Pillay|first3=Yogan|last4=Barron|first4=Peter|title=A Political and Social History of HIV in South Africa|journal=Current HIV/AIDS Reports|volume=12|issue=2|year=2015|pages=256–261|doi=10.1007/s11904-015-0259-7|pmid=25929959|s2cid=23483038}}</ref><ref name="BurtonGiddy2015">{{cite journal|last1=Burton|first1=Rosie|last2=Giddy|first2=Janet|last3=Stinson|first3=Kathryn|title=Prevention of mother-to-child transmission in South Africa: an ever-changing landscape|journal=Obstetric Medicine|volume=8|issue=1|year=2015|pages=5–12|doi=10.1177/1753495X15570994|pmid=27512452|pmc=4934997}}</ref> while belief in [[GMO conspiracy theories|conspiracy theories about genetically modified foods]] led the government of [[Zambia]] to reject food aid during a [[famine]],<ref name="Goertzel2010"/> at a time when 3 million people in the country were suffering from [[hunger]].<ref name="BrossardShanahan2007">{{cite book|author1=Dominique Brossard|author2=James Shanahan|author3=T. Clint Nesbitt|title=The Media, the Public and Agricultural Biotechnology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dq1frsw9alkC|year=2007|publisher=CABI|isbn=978-1-84593-204-6|pages=343, 353}}</ref>

Conspiracy theories are a significant obstacle to improvements in [[public health]].<ref name="Goertzel2010"/><ref name="GlickBooth2014"/> People who believe in health-related conspiracy theories are less likely to follow [[medical advice]], and more likely to use [[alternative medicine]] instead.<ref name="DouglasUscinski2019"/> Conspiratorial [[anti-vaccination]] beliefs, such as [[Big Pharma conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories about pharmaceutical companies]], can result in reduced vaccination rates and have been linked to outbreaks of [[vaccine-preventable disease]]s.<ref name="Thresher-Andrews2013"/><ref name="Goertzel2010">{{cite journal|last1=Goertzel|first1=Ted|title=Conspiracy theories in science|journal=EMBO Reports|volume=11|issue=7|year=2010|pages=493–499|doi=10.1038/embor.2010.84|pmid=20539311|pmc=2897118}}</ref><ref name="PrematungeCorace2012">{{cite journal|last1=Prematunge|first1=Chatura|last2=Corace|first2=Kimberly|last3=McCarthy|first3=Anne|last4=Nair|first4=Rama C.|last5=Pugsley|first5=Renee|last6=Garber|first6=Gary|title=Factors influencing pandemic influenza vaccination of healthcare workers—A systematic review|journal=Vaccine|volume=30|issue=32|year=2012|pages=4733–4743|doi=10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.05.018|pmid=22643216}}</ref><ref name="GlickBooth2014">{{cite journal|last1=Glick|first1=Michael|last2=Booth|first2=H. Austin|title=Conspiracy ideation|journal=The Journal of the American Dental Association|volume=145|issue=8|year=2014|pages=798–799|doi=10.1016/S0002-8177(14)60181-1|pmid=25082925}}</ref> Health-related conspiracy theories often inspire resistance to [[water fluoridation]], and contributed to the impact of the [[Lancet MMR autism fraud]].<ref name="Goertzel2010"/><ref name="GlickBooth2014"/>

Conspiracy theories are a fundamental component of a wide range of radicalized and extremist groups, where they may play an important role in reinforcing the ideology and psychology of their members as well as further radicalizing their beliefs.<ref name="DouglasUscinski2019"/><ref name="Brotherton2015-2"/> These conspiracy theories often share common themes, even among groups that would otherwise be fundamentally opposed, such as the [[antisemitic]] conspiracy theories found among political extremists on both the [[far right]] and [[far left]].<ref name="DouglasUscinski2019"/> More generally, belief in conspiracy theories is associated with holding extreme and uncompromising viewpoints, and may help people in maintaining those viewpoints.<ref name="Douglas 538–542"/> While conspiracy theories are not always present in extremist groups, and do not always lead to violence when they are, they can make the group more extreme, provide an enemy to direct hatred towards, and isolate members from the rest of society. Conspiracy theories are most likely to inspire violence when they call for urgent action, appeal to prejudices, or demonize and scapegoat enemies.<ref name="Brotherton2015-2">{{cite book|author=Robert Brotherton|title=Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories|chapter=Chapter 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=awrcCQAAQBAJ|date=19 November 2015|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4729-1564-1}}</ref>

Conspiracy theorizing in the workplace can also have economic consequences. For example, it leads to lower job satisfaction and lower commitment, resulting in workers being more likely to leave their jobs.<ref name="DouglasUscinski2019"/> Comparisons have also been made with the effects of workplace rumors, which share some characteristics with conspiracy theories and result in both decreased productivity and increased stress. Subsequent effects on managers include reduced profits, reduced trust from employees, and damage to the company's image.<ref name="DouglasUscinski2019">{{cite journal|last1=Douglas|first1=Karen M.|last2=Uscinski|first2=Joseph E.|last3=Sutton|first3=Robbie M.|last4=Cichocka|first4=Aleksandra|last5=Nefes|first5=Turkay|last6=Ang|first6=Chee Siang|last7=Deravi|first7=Farzin|title=Understanding Conspiracy Theories|journal=Political Psychology|volume=40|issue=S1|year=2019|pages=3–35|doi=10.1111/pops.12568|doi-access=free|hdl=10261/369501|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name="DiFonzoBordia1994">{{cite journal|last1=DiFonzo|first1=Nicholas|last2=Bordia|first2=Prashant|last3=Rosnow|first3=Ralph L.|title=Reining in rumors|journal=Organizational Dynamics|volume=23|issue=1|year=1994|pages=47–62|doi=10.1016/0090-2616(94)90087-6}}</ref>

Conspiracy theories can divert attention from important social, political, and scientific issues.<ref name="Jolley2013">{{cite journal|last1=Jolley|first1=Daniel|title=The detrimental nature of conspiracy theories|journal=PsyPAG Quarterly|volume=1|year=2013|issue=88|pages=35–39|doi=10.53841/bpspag.2013.1.88.35|s2cid=255910928|url=http://www.psypag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Issue-88.pdf|archive-date=13 August 2015|access-date=12 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150813062541/http://www.psypag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Issue-88.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="SciAm2013"/> In addition, they have been used to discredit scientific evidence to the general public or in a legal context. Conspiratorial strategies also share characteristics with those used by lawyers who are attempting to discredit expert testimony, such as claiming that the experts have ulterior motives in testifying, or attempting to find someone who will provide statements to imply that expert opinion is more divided than it actually is.<ref name="Goertzel2010"/>

It is possible that conspiracy theories may also produce some compensatory benefits to society in certain situations. For example, they may help people identify governmental deceptions, particularly in repressive societies, and encourage [[government transparency]].<ref name="SunsteinVermeule2009"/><ref name="Jolley2013"/> However, real conspiracies are normally revealed by people working within the system, such as [[whistleblower]]s and [[journalist]]s, and most of the effort spent by conspiracy theorists is inherently misdirected.<ref name="Brotherton2015-2"/> The most dangerous conspiracy theories are likely to be those that incite violence, scapegoat disadvantaged groups, or spread [[misinformation]] about important societal issues.<ref name="Brotherton2015-e">{{cite book|author=Robert Brotherton|title=Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories|chapter=Epilogue|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=awrcCQAAQBAJ|date=19 November 2015|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4729-1564-1}}</ref>

==Interventions==
{{see also|Misinformation#Countering misinformation}}

===Target audience===
Strategies to address conspiracy theories have been divided into two categories based on whether the target audience is the conspiracy theorists or the general public.<ref name="LewandowskyCook2020"/><ref name="SunsteinVermeule2009"/> These strategies have been described as reducing [[Supply and demand|either the supply or the demand]] for conspiracy theories.<ref name="SunsteinVermeule2009"/> Both approaches can be used at the same time, although there may be issues of limited resources, or if arguments are used which may appeal to one audience at the expense of the other.<ref name="SunsteinVermeule2009"/>

Brief scientific literacy interventions, particularly those focusing on critical thinking skills, can effectively undermine conspiracy beliefs and related behaviors. Research led by Penn State scholars, published in the ''[[Journal of Consumer Research]]'', found that enhancing scientific knowledge and reasoning through short interventions, such as videos explaining concepts like correlation and causation, reduces the endorsement of conspiracy theories. These interventions were most effective against conspiracy theories based on faulty reasoning and were successful even among groups prone to conspiracy beliefs. The studies, involving over 2,700 participants, highlight the importance of educational interventions in mitigating conspiracy beliefs, especially when timed to influence critical decision-making.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Tutella|first1=Francisco|last2=University|first2=Pennsylvania State|title=Brief scientific literacy interventions may quash new conspiracy theories|access-date=2 December 2024|url=https://phys.org/news/2024-12-scientific-literacy-interventions-quash-conspiracy.html}}</ref>

====General public====
People who feel [[empowered]] are more resistant to conspiracy theories. Methods to promote empowerment include encouraging people to use [[analytical thinking]], [[Priming (psychology)|priming]] people to think of situations where they are in control, and ensuring that decisions by society and government are seen to follow procedural fairness (the use of fair decision-making procedures).<ref name="LewandowskyCook2020">{{cite book|last1=Lewandowsky|first1=S.|last2=Cook|first2=J.|title=The Conspiracy Theory Handbook|publisher=John Cook, Center for Climate Change Communication, George Mason University|year=2020|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BCGxzQEACAAJ|access-date=17 November 2021}}</ref>

Methods of refutation which have shown effectiveness in various circumstances include: providing facts that demonstrate the conspiracy theory is false, attempting to discredit the source, explaining how the logic is invalid or misleading, and providing links to fact-checking websites.<ref name="LewandowskyCook2020"/> It can also be effective to use these strategies in advance, informing people that they could encounter misleading information in the future, and why the information should be rejected (also called inoculation or prebunking).<ref name="LewandowskyCook2020"/><ref name="ConnollyUscinski2019"/><ref name="LazicZezelj2021"/> While it has been suggested that discussing conspiracy theories can raise their profile and make them seem more legitimate to the public, the discussion can put people on guard instead as long as it is sufficiently persuasive.<ref name="Andrade2020"/>

Other approaches to reduce the appeal of conspiracy theories in general among the public may be based in the emotional and social nature of conspiratorial beliefs. For example, interventions that promote [[analytical thinking]] in the general public are likely to be effective. Another approach is to intervene in ways that decrease [[negative emotion]]s, and specifically to improve feelings of personal hope and empowerment.<ref name="van ProoijenDouglas2018">{{cite journal|last1=van Prooijen|first1=Jan-Willem|last2=Douglas|first2=Karen M.|title=Belief in conspiracy theories: Basic principles of an emerging research domain|journal=European Journal of Social Psychology|volume=48|issue=7|year=2018|pages=897–908|doi=10.1002/ejsp.2530|pmid=30555188|pmc=6282974}}</ref>

====Conspiracy theorists====
It is much more difficult to convince people who already believe in conspiracy theories.<ref name="SunsteinVermeule2009"/><ref name="LewandowskyCook2020"/> Conspiracist belief systems are not based on external evidence, but instead use [[circular logic]] where every belief is supported by other conspiracist beliefs.<ref name="LewandowskyCook2020"/> In addition, conspiracy theories have a "self-sealing" nature, in which the types of arguments used to support them make them resistant to questioning from others.<ref name="SunsteinVermeule2009"/>

Characteristics of successful strategies for reaching conspiracy theorists have been divided into several broad categories: 1) Arguments can be presented by "trusted messengers", such as people who were formerly members of an extremist group. 2) Since conspiracy theorists think of themselves as people who value critical thinking, this can be affirmed and then redirected to encourage being more critical when analyzing the conspiracy theory. 3) Approaches demonstrate empathy, and are based on building understanding together, which is supported by modeling open-mindedness in order to encourage the conspiracy theorists to do likewise. 4) The conspiracy theories are not attacked with ridicule or aggressive deconstruction, and interactions are not treated like an argument to be won; this approach can work with the general public, but among conspiracy theorists it may simply be rejected.<ref name="LewandowskyCook2020"/>

Interventions that reduce feelings of uncertainty, anxiety, or powerlessness result in a reduction in conspiracy beliefs.<ref name="Douglas 538–542"/> Other possible strategies to mitigate the effect of conspiracy theories include education, media literacy, and increasing governmental openness and transparency.<ref name="ConnollyUscinski2019"/> Due to the relationship between conspiracy theories and political extremism, the academic literature on [[deradicalization]] is also important.<ref name="LewandowskyCook2020"/>

One approach describes conspiracy theories as resulting from a "crippled epistemology", in which a person encounters or accepts very few relevant sources of information.<ref name="SunsteinVermeule2009"/><ref name="Hardin2002"/> A conspiracy theory is more likely to appear justified to people with a limited "informational environment" who only encounter misleading information. These people may be "[[epistemologically]] isolated" in [[filter bubble|self-enclosed networks]]. From the perspective of people within these networks, disconnected from the information available to the rest of society, believing in conspiracy theories may appear to be justified.<ref name="SunsteinVermeule2009"/><ref name="Hardin2002">{{cite book|last=Hardin|first=Russell|title=Political Extremism and Rationality|chapter=The Crippled Epistemology of Extremism|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=7 January 2002|doi=10.1017/cbo9780511550478.002|page=20|isbn=978-0-521-80441-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yyUmy7SJra4C}}</ref> In these cases, the solution would be to break the group's informational isolation.<ref name="SunsteinVermeule2009"/>

===Reducing transmission===
Public exposure to conspiracy theories can be reduced by interventions that reduce their ability to spread, such as by encouraging people to reflect before sharing a news story.<ref name="LewandowskyCook2020"/> Researchers Carlos Diaz Ruiz and Tomas Nilsson have proposed technical and rhetorical interventions to counter the spread of conspiracy theories on social media.<ref name="EC">{{Cite journal|last1=Diaz Ruiz|first1=Carlos|last2=Nilsson|first2=Tomas|date=2023|title=Disinformation and Echo Chambers: How Disinformation Circulates on Social Media Through Identity-Driven Controversies|journal=Journal of Public Policy & Marketing|language=en|volume=42|issue=1|pages=18–35|doi=10.1177/07439156221103852|s2cid=248934562|doi-access=free}}{{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}}
</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Interventions to counter the spread of conspiracy theories on social media<ref name="EC"/>
|-
!Type of intervention
!Intervention
|-
| rowspan="3" |Technical
|Expose sources that insert and circulate conspiracy theories on social media (flagging).
|-
|Diminish the source's capacity to monetize conspiracies (demonetization).
|-
|Slow down the circulation of conspiracy theories (algorithm)
|-
| rowspan="5" |Rhetorical
|Issue authoritative corrections (fact-checking).
|-
|Authority-based corrections and fact-checking may backfire because personal worldviews cannot be proved wrong.
|-
|Enlist spokespeople that can be perceived as allies and insiders.
|-
|Rebuttals must spring from an epistemology that participants are already familiar with.
|-
|Give believers of conspiracies an "exit ramp" to dis-invest themselves without facing ridicule.
|}

===Government policies===
The primary defense against conspiracy theories is to maintain an [[open society]], in which many sources of reliable information are available, and government sources are known to be credible rather than propaganda. Additionally, independent nongovernmental organizations are able to correct misinformation without requiring people to trust the government.<ref name="SunsteinVermeule2009"/> The absence of [[civil rights]] and [[civil liberties]] reduces the number of information sources available to the population, which may lead people to support conspiracy theories.<ref name="SunsteinVermeule2009"/> Since the credibility of conspiracy theories can be increased if governments act dishonestly or otherwise engage in objectionable actions, avoiding such actions is also a relevant strategy.<ref name="ConnollyUscinski2019"/>

Joseph Pierre has said that mistrust in authoritative institutions is the core component underlying many conspiracy theories and that this mistrust creates an epistemic vacuum and makes individuals searching for answers vulnerable to misinformation. Therefore, one possible solution is offering consumers a seat at the table to mend their mistrust in institutions.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Pierre|first1=JM|title=Mistrust and misinformation: A two-component, socio-epistemic model of belief in conspiracy theories|journal=Journal of Social and Political Psychology |volume=8|issue=2|year=2020|pages=617–641|doi=10.5964/jspp.v8i2.1362|doi-access=free}}</ref> Regarding the challenges of this approach, Pierre has said, "The challenge with acknowledging areas of uncertainty within a public sphere is that doing so can be weaponized to reinforce a post-truth view of the world in which everything is debatable, and any counter-position is just as valid. Although I like to think of myself as a middle of the road kind of individual, it is important to keep in mind that the truth does not always lie in the middle of a debate, whether we are talking about climate change, vaccines, or antipsychotic medications."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Aftab|first1=Awais|title=There and Back Again: Joseph Pierre, M.D.|journal=Psychiatric Times|volume=38|issue=1|year=2021|url=https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/there-back-joseph-pierre}}</ref>

Researchers have recommended that public policies should take into account the possibility of conspiracy theories relating to any policy or policy area, and prepare to combat them in advance.<ref name="ConnollyUscinski2019"/><ref name="Andrade2020"/> Conspiracy theories have suddenly arisen in the context of policy issues as disparate as land-use laws and bicycle-sharing programs.<ref name="ConnollyUscinski2019"/> In the case of public communications by government officials, factors that improve the effectiveness of communication include using clear and simple messages, and using messengers which are trusted by the target population. Government information about conspiracy theories is more likely to be believed if the messenger is perceived as being part of someone's [[in-group]]. Official representatives may be more effective if they share characteristics with the target groups, such as ethnicity.<ref name="ConnollyUscinski2019">{{cite journal|last1=Connolly|first1=Jennifer M.|last2=Uscinski|first2=Joseph E.|last3=Klofstad|first3=Casey A.|last4=West|first4=Jonathan P.|title=Communicating to the Public in the Era of Conspiracy Theory|journal=Public Integrity|volume=21|issue=5|year=2019|pages=469–476|doi=10.1080/10999922.2019.1603045}}</ref>

In addition, when the government communicates with citizens to combat conspiracy theories, online methods are more efficient compared to other methods such as print publications. This also promotes transparency, can improve a message's perceived trustworthiness, and is more effective at reaching underrepresented demographics. However, {{as of|2019|lc=y}}, many governmental websites do not take full advantage of the available information-sharing opportunities. Similarly, social media accounts need to be used effectively in order to achieve meaningful communication with the public, such as by responding to requests that citizens send to those accounts. Other steps include adapting messages to the communication styles used on the social media platform in question, and promoting a culture of openness. Since mixed messaging can support conspiracy theories, it is also important to avoid conflicting accounts, such as by ensuring the accuracy of messages on the social media accounts of individual members of the organization.<ref name="ConnollyUscinski2019"/>

===Public health campaigns===

Successful methods for dispelling conspiracy theories have been studied in the context of [[public health]] campaigns. A key characteristic of communication strategies to address medical conspiracy theories is the use of techniques that rely less on emotional appeals. It is more effective to use methods that encourage people to process information rationally. The use of visual aids is also an essential part of these strategies. Since conspiracy theories are based on intuitive thinking, and visual information processing relies on intuition, visual aids are able to compete directly for the public's attention.<ref name="Andrade2020"/>

In public health campaigns, information retention by the public is highest for loss-framed messages that include more extreme outcomes. However, excessively appealing to catastrophic scenarios (e.g. low vaccination rates causing an epidemic) may provoke anxiety, which is associated with conspiracism and could increase belief in conspiracy theories instead. [[Scare tactics]] have sometimes had mixed results, but are generally considered ineffective. An example of this is the use of images that showcase disturbing health outcomes, such as the impact of smoking on dental health. One possible explanation is that information processed via the fear response is typically not evaluated rationally, which may prevent the message from being linked to the desired behaviors.<ref name="Andrade2020"/>

A particularly important technique is the use of [[focus group]]s to understand exactly what people believe, and the reasons they give for those beliefs. This allows messaging to focus on the specific concerns that people identify, and on topics that are easily misinterpreted by the public, since these are factors which conspiracy theories can take advantage of. In addition, discussions with focus groups and observations of the group dynamics can indicate which anti-conspiracist ideas are most likely to spread.<ref name="Andrade2020"/>

Interventions that address medical conspiracy theories by reducing powerlessness include emphasizing the principle of [[informed consent]], giving patients all the relevant information without imposing decisions on them, to ensure that they have a sense of control. Improving access to healthcare also reduces medical conspiracism. However, doing so by political efforts can also fuel additional conspiracy theories, which occurred with the [[Affordable Care Act]] (Obamacare) in the United States. Another successful strategy is to require people to watch a short video when they fulfil requirements such as registration for school or a drivers' license, which has been demonstrated to improve vaccination rates and signups for organ donation.<ref name="Andrade2020"/>

Another approach is based on viewing conspiracy theories as narratives which express personal and cultural values, making them less susceptible to straightforward factual corrections, and more effectively addressed by counter-narratives.<ref name="LazicZezelj2021">{{cite journal|last1=Lazić|first1=Aleksandra|last2=Žeželj|first2=Iris|title=A systematic review of narrative interventions: Lessons for countering anti-vaccination conspiracy theories and misinformation|journal=Public Understanding of Science|volume=30|issue=6|date=18 May 2021|doi=10.1177/09636625211011881|pages=644–670|pmid=34006153}}</ref><ref name="Adornetti2023">{{cite journal|last=Adornetti|first=Ines|title=Investigating conspiracy theories in the light of narrative persuasion|journal=Frontiers in Psychology|volume=14|date=8 November 2023|article-number=1288125 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1288125|doi-access=free|pmid=38022962|pmc=10663292}}</ref> Counter-narratives can be more engaging and memorable than simple corrections, and can be adapted to the specific values held by individuals and cultures. These narratives may depict personal experiences, or alternatively they can be cultural narratives. In the context of vaccination, examples of cultural narratives include stories about scientific breakthroughs, about the world before vaccinations, or about heroic and altruistic researchers. The themes to be addressed would be those that could be exploited by conspiracy theories to increase [[vaccine hesitancy]], such as perceptions of vaccine risk, lack of patient empowerment, and lack of trust in medical authorities.<ref name="LazicZezelj2021"/>

===Backfire effects===
It has been suggested that directly countering [[misinformation]] can be counterproductive. For example, since conspiracy theories can reinterpret disconfirming information as part of their narrative, refuting a claim can result in accidentally reinforcing it,<ref name="Brotherton2013"/><ref name="SciAm2019"/> which is referred to as a "backfire effect".<ref name="Swire-Thompson2020"/> In addition, publishing criticism of conspiracy theories can result in legitimizing them.<ref name="Jolley2013"/> In this context, possible interventions include carefully selecting which conspiracy theories to refute, requesting additional analyses from independent observers, and introducing cognitive diversity into conspiratorial communities by undermining their poor epistemology.<ref name="Jolley2013"/> Any legitimization effect might also be reduced by responding to more conspiracy theories rather than fewer.<ref name="SunsteinVermeule2009">{{cite journal|last1=Sunstein|first1=Cass R.|last2=Vermeule|first2=Adrian|title=Conspiracy Theories: Causes and Cures|journal=Journal of Political Philosophy|volume=17|issue=2|year=2009|pages=202–227|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9760.2008.00325.x|s2cid=48880069}}</ref>

There are psychological mechanisms by which backfire effects could potentially occur, but the evidence on this topic is mixed, and backfire effects are very rare in practice.<ref name="LazicZezelj2021"/><ref name="Swire-Thompson2020"/><ref name="Nyhan2021"/> A 2020 review of the scientific literature on backfire effects found that there have been widespread [[Replication crisis|failures to replicate]] their existence, even under conditions that would be theoretically favorable to observing them.<ref name="Swire-Thompson2020">{{cite journal|author=Swire-Thompson B, DeGutis J, Lazer D|title=Searching for the Backfire Effect: Measurement and Design Considerations.|journal=J Appl Res Mem Cogn|year=2020|volume=9|issue=3|pages=286–299|pmid=32905023|doi=10.1016/j.jarmac.2020.06.006|pmc=7462781}}</ref> Due to the lack of [[reproducibility]], {{as of|2020|lc=y}} most researchers believe that backfire effects are either unlikely to occur on the broader population level, or they only occur in very specific circumstances, or they do not exist.<ref name="Swire-Thompson2020"/> Brendan Nyhan, one of the researchers who initially proposed the occurrence of backfire effects, wrote in 2021 that the persistence of misinformation is most likely due to other factors.<ref name="Nyhan2021">{{cite journal|author=Nyhan B|title=Why the backfire effect does not explain the durability of political misperceptions.|journal=Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A|year=2021|volume=118|issue=15|article-number=e1912440117 |pmid=33837144|doi=10.1073/pnas.1912440117|doi-access=free|pmc=8053951|bibcode=2021PNAS..11812440N}}</ref>

In general, people do reject conspiracy theories when they learn about their contradictions and lack of evidence.<ref name="Andrade2020"/> For most people, corrections and fact-checking are very unlikely to have a negative impact, and there is no specific group of people in which backfire effects have been consistently observed.<ref name="Swire-Thompson2020"/> Presenting people with factual corrections, or highlighting the logical contradictions in conspiracy theories, has been demonstrated to have a positive effect in many circumstances.<ref name="van ProoijenDouglas2018"/><ref name="SciAm2019"/> For example, this has been studied in the case of informing believers in [[9/11 conspiracy theories]] about statements by actual experts and witnesses.<ref name="van ProoijenDouglas2018"/> One possibility is that criticism is most likely to backfire if it challenges someone's worldview or identity. This suggests that an effective approach may be to provide criticism while avoiding such challenges.<ref name="SciAm2019">{{Cite web|title=People Drawn to Conspiracy Theories Share a Cluster of Psychological Features|last=Moyer|first=Melinda Wenner|work=Scientific American|date=1 March 2019|access-date=16 October 2020|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-drawn-to-conspiracy-theories-share-a-cluster-of-psychological-features/}}</ref>

== Psychology ==
The widespread belief in conspiracy theories has become a topic of interest for sociologists, psychologists, and experts in folklore since at least the 1960s, when [[John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories|a number of conspiracy theories]] arose regarding [[John F. Kennedy assassination|the assassination]] of U.S. President [[John F. Kennedy]]. [[Sociologist]] Türkay Salim Nefes underlines the political nature of conspiracy theories. He suggests that one of the most important characteristics of these accounts is their attempt to unveil the "real but hidden" power relations in social groups.<ref name="Turkay Nefes"/><ref name="Nefes"/> The term "conspiracism" was popularized by academic Frank P. Mintz in the 1980s. According to Mintz, conspiracism denotes "belief in the primacy of conspiracies in the unfolding of history":<ref name="Mintz1985">{{cite book|last=Mintz|first=Frank P.|title=The Liberty Lobby and the American Right: Race, Conspiracy, and Culture|publisher=Greenwood|location=Westport, CT|isbn=978-0-313-24393-6|year=1985}}</ref>{{rp|4}}

{{blockquote|Conspiracism serves the needs of diverse political and social groups in America and elsewhere. It identifies elites, blames them for economic and social catastrophes, and assumes that things will be better once popular action can remove them from positions of power. As such, conspiracy theories do not typify a particular epoch or ideology.<ref name="Mintz1985"/>{{rp|199}}}}

Research suggests, on a psychological level, '''conspiracist ideation'''—belief in conspiracy theories—can be harmful or pathological,<ref name="Freeman 595–604"/><ref name="Barron 156–159"/> and is highly correlated with [[psychological projection]], as well as with [[paranoia]], which is predicted by the degree of a person's [[Machiavellianism (psychology)|Machiavellianism]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Douglas|first1=Karen M.|last2=Sutton|first2=Robbie M.|date=12 April 2011|title=Does it take one to know one? Endorsement of conspiracy theories is influenced by personal willingness to conspire|url=http://kar.kent.ac.uk/26187/1/Douglas%20%26%20Sutton%202011%20BJSP.pdf|journal=British Journal of Social Psychology|volume=10|issue=3|pages=544–552|doi=10.1111/j.2044-8309.2010.02018.x|pmid=21486312|s2cid=7318352|access-date=28 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103180834/https://kar.kent.ac.uk/26187/1/Douglas%20%26%20Sutton%202011%20BJSP.pdf|archive-date=3 November 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The propensity to believe in conspiracy theories is strongly associated with the mental health disorder of [[schizotypy]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Barron|first1=David|last2=Furnham|first2=Adrian|last3=Weis|first3=Laura|last4=Morgan|first4=Kevin D.|last5=Towell|first5=Tony|last6=Swami|first6=Viren|date=January 2018|title=The relationship between schizotypal facets and conspiracist beliefs via cognitive processes|journal=Psychiatry Research|volume=259|pages=15–20|doi=10.1016/j.psychres.2017.10.001|pmid=29024855|s2cid=43823184|url=http://westminsterresearch.wmin.ac.uk/20297/1/1-s2.0-S0165178117312301-main-1.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Darwin|first1=Hannah|last2=Neave|first2=Nick|last3=Holmes|first3=Joni|date=1 June 2011|title=Belief in conspiracy theories. The role of paranormal belief, paranoid ideation and schizotypy|journal=Personality and Individual Differences|language=en|volume=50|issue=8|pages=1289–1293|doi=10.1016/j.paid.2011.02.027}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Barron|first1=David|last2=Morgan|first2=Kevin|last3=Towell|first3=Tony|last4=Altemeyer|first4=Boris|last5=Swami|first5=Viren|date=1 November 2014|title=Associations between schizotypy and belief in conspiracist ideation|journal=Personality and Individual Differences|language=en|volume=70|pages=156–159|doi=10.1016/j.paid.2014.06.040|url=http://westminsterresearch.wmin.ac.uk/14570/1/1-s2.0-S0191886914003821-main.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Relationship Between Schizotypal Facets and Conspiracist Beliefs via Cognitive Processes|last1=D|first1=Barron|last2=A|first2=Furnham|date=January 2018|language=en|pmid=29024855|last3=L|first3=Weis|last4=Kd|first4=Morgan|last5=T|first5=Towell|last6=V|first6=Swami|journal=Psychiatry Research|volume=259|pages=15–20|doi=10.1016/j.psychres.2017.10.001|s2cid=43823184|url=http://westminsterresearch.wmin.ac.uk/20297/1/1-s2.0-S0165178117312301-main-1.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Dagnall|first1=Neil|last2=Drinkwater|first2=Kenneth|last3=Parker|first3=Andrew|last4=Denovan|first4=Andrew|last5=Parton|first5=Megan|date=2015|title=Conspiracy theory and cognitive style: a worldview|journal=Frontiers in Psychology|volume=6|page=206|doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00206|pmc=4340140|pmid=25762969|doi-access=free}}</ref> Conspiracy theories once limited to fringe audiences have become commonplace in [[mass media]], emerging as a [[cultural phenomenon]] of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.{{sfn|Barkun|2003|p=58}}<ref name="Camp 1997"/><ref name="Goldberg 2001"/><ref name="Fenster 2008"/> Exposure to conspiracy theories in news media and popular entertainment increases receptiveness to conspiratorial ideas, and has also increased the social acceptability of fringe beliefs.<ref name="DouglasUscinski2019"/><ref name="StojanovHalberstadt2020">{{cite journal|last1=Stojanov|first1=Ana|last2=Halberstadt|first2=Jamin|title=Does lack of control lead to conspiracy beliefs? A meta-analysis|journal=European Journal of Social Psychology|volume=50|issue=5|year=2020|pages=955–968|doi=10.1002/ejsp.2690|s2cid=219744361}}</ref>

Conspiracy theories often use complicated and detailed arguments, including ones that appear analytical or scientific. However, belief in conspiracy theories is primarily driven by emotion.<ref name="van ProoijenDouglas2018"/> One of the most widely confirmed facts about conspiracy theories is that belief in a single conspiracy theory is often associated with belief in other conspiracy theories.<ref name="Thresher-Andrews2013"/><ref name="SuttonDouglas2020">{{cite journal|last1=Sutton|first1=Robbie M|last2=Douglas|first2=Karen M|title=Conspiracy theories and the conspiracy mindset: implications for political ideology|journal=Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences|volume=34|year=2020|pages=118–122|doi=10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.02.015|s2cid=214735855|doi-access=free}}</ref> This even applies when the conspiracy theories directly contradict each other—e.g., believing that [[Osama bin Laden]] was already dead before his compound in Pakistan was attacked makes the same person more likely to believe that he is still alive. One conclusion from this finding is that the content of a conspiracist belief is less important than the idea of a coverup by the authorities.<ref name="Thresher-Andrews2013"/><ref name="SciAm2013">{{Cite web|title=Why People Believe in Conspiracy Theories|last=Linden|first=Sander van der|work=Scientific American|date=30 April 2013|access-date=16 October 2020|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-people-believe-conspiracy-theories/}}</ref><ref name="BilewiczCichocka2015">{{cite book|author1=Michal Bilewicz|author2=Aleksandra Cichocka|author3=Wiktor Soral|title=The Psychology of Conspiracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WrJhCQAAQBAJ|date=15 May 2015|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-317-59952-4}}</ref> [[Analytical thinking]] aids in reducing belief in conspiracy theories, in part because it emphasizes rational and critical cognition.<ref name="Douglas 538–542">{{Cite journal|last1=Douglas|first1=Karen M.|last2=Sutton|first2=Robbie M.|last3=Cichocka|first3=Aleksandra|date=1 December 2017|title=The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories|journal=Current Directions in Psychological Science|language=en|volume=26|issue=6|pages=538–542|doi=10.1177/0963721417718261|pmc=5724570|pmid=29276345}}</ref>

Some psychologists assert that explanations related to conspiracy theories can be, and often are, "internally consistent" with strong beliefs previously held prior to the event that sparked the belief in a conspiracy.<ref name="Douglas 538–542"/> People who believe in conspiracy theories tend to believe in other unsubstantiated claims, including [[pseudoscience]] and [[paranormal]] phenomena.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bensley|first1=D. Alan|last2=Lilienfeld|first2=Scott O.|last3=Rowan|first3=Krystal A.|last4=Masciocchi|first4=Christopher M.|last5=Grain|first5=Florent|title=The generality of belief in unsubstantiated claims|journal=Applied Cognitive Psychology|date=2020|volume=34|issue=1|pages=16–28|doi=10.1002/acp.3581|hdl=11343/286891|s2cid=197707663|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/acp.3581|hdl-access=free|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

===Attractions===
Psychological motives for believing in conspiracy theories can be categorized as epistemic, existential, or social. These motives are particularly acute in vulnerable and disadvantaged populations. However, it does not appear that the beliefs help to address these motives; in fact, they may be self-defeating, acting to make the situation worse instead.<ref name="Douglas 538–542"/><ref name="SciAm2019"/> For example, while conspiratorial beliefs can result from a perceived sense of [[empowerment|powerlessness]], exposure to conspiracy theories immediately suppresses personal feelings of autonomy and control. Furthermore, they also make people less likely to take actions that could improve their circumstances.<ref name="Douglas 538–542"/><ref name="SciAm2019"/>

This is additionally supported by the fact that conspiracy theories have a number of disadvantageous attributes.<ref name="Douglas 538–542"/> For example, they promote a hostile and distrustful view of other people and groups allegedly acting based on antisocial and cynical motivations. This is expected to lead to increased [[social alienation]] and [[anomie]] and reduced [[social capital]]. Similarly, they depict the public as ignorant and powerless against the alleged conspirators, with important aspects of society determined by malevolent forces, a viewpoint that is likely to be disempowering.<ref name="Douglas 538–542"/>

Each person may endorse conspiracy theories for one of many different reasons.<ref name="GoreisVoracek2019"/> The most consistently demonstrated characteristics of people who find conspiracy theories appealing are a feeling of [[Social alienation|alienation]], unhappiness or dissatisfaction with their situation, an unconventional worldview, and a sense of [[disempowerment]].<ref name="GoreisVoracek2019"/> While various aspects of personality affect susceptibility to conspiracy theories, none of the [[Big Five personality traits]] are associated with conspiracy beliefs.<ref name="GoreisVoracek2019">{{cite journal|last1=Goreis|first1=Andreas|last2=Voracek|first2=Martin|title=A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Psychological Research on Conspiracy Beliefs: Field Characteristics, Measurement Instruments, and Associations With Personality Traits|journal=Frontiers in Psychology|volume=10|year=2019|article-number=205|doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00205|pmid=30853921|pmc=6396711|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The political scientist [[Michael Barkun]], discussing the usage of "conspiracy theory" in contemporary American culture, holds that this term is used for a belief that explains an event as the result of a secret plot by exceptionally powerful and cunning conspirators to achieve a malevolent end.{{sfn|Barkun|2003|p=3}}<ref name="New Internationalist 1 2004"/> According to Barkun, the appeal of conspiracism is threefold:

{{blockquote |
* First, conspiracy theories claim to explain what [[institutional analysis]] cannot. They appear to make sense out of a world that is otherwise confusing. 
* Second, they do so in an appealingly simple way, by dividing the world sharply between [[Manichaeism|the forces of light, and the forces of darkness]]. They trace all evil back to a single source, the conspirators and their agents. 
* Third, conspiracy theories are often presented as special, [[Western esotericism|secret knowledge]] unknown or unappreciated by others. For conspiracy theorists, the masses are a [[sheeple|brainwashed herd]], while the conspiracy theorists in the know can congratulate themselves on penetrating the plotters' deceptions.<ref name="New Internationalist 1 2004"/>}}

This third point is supported by the research of Roland Imhoff, professor of [[social psychology]] at the [[Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz]]. His research suggests that the smaller the minority believing in a specific theory, the more attractive it is to conspiracy theorists.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Imhoff|first1=Roland|title=Conspiracy Theorists Just Want to Feel Special|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/conspiracy-theorists-just-want-to-feel-special/|website=motherboard.vice.com|access-date=6 July 2018|date=17 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428135251/https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/9kg8j3/conspiracy-theorists-just-want-to-feel-special|archive-date=28 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Humanistic psychologists]] argue that even if a posited cabal behind an alleged conspiracy is almost always perceived as hostile, there often remains an element of reassurance for theorists. This is because it is a consolation to imagine that humans create difficulties in human affairs and remain within human control. If a cabal can be implicated, there may be a hope of breaking its power or of joining it. Belief in the power of a cabal is an implicit assertion of human dignity—an unconscious affirmation that man is responsible for his own destiny.<ref name="Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln 1987">{{cite book|author1=Baigent, Michael|author2=Leigh, Richard|author3=Lincoln, Henry|title=The Messianic Legacy|publisher=Henry Holt & Co|year=1987|isbn=978-0-8050-0568-4}}</ref>

People formulate conspiracy theories to explain, for example, power relations in social groups and the perceived existence of evil forces.{{efn|[[Barkun]] 2003: "The essence of conspiracy beliefs lies in attempts to delineate and explain evil. At their broadest, conspiracy theories 'view history as controlled by massive, demonic forces.'&nbsp;... For our purposes, a ''conspiracy belief'' is the belief that an organization made up of individuals or groups was or is acting covertly to achieve a malevolent end."{{sfn|Barkun|2003|p=3}}}}<ref name="New Internationalist 1 2004">{{cite web|author=Berlet, Chip|author-link=Chip Berlet|title=Interview: Michael Barkun|url=http://www.publiceye.org/antisemitism/nw_barkun.html|date=September 2004|quote=The issue of conspiracism versus rational criticism is a tough one, and some people (Jodi Dean, for example) argue that the former is simply a variety of the latter. I don't accept this, although I certainly acknowledge that there have been conspiracies. They simply don't have the attributes of almost superhuman power and cunning that conspiracists attribute to them.|access-date=1 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402214330/http://www.publiceye.org/antisemitism/nw_barkun.html|archive-date=2 April 2009|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Turkay Nefes">{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/1467-954X.12016|volume=61|issue=2|title=Political parties' perceptions and uses of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories in Turkey|year=2013|journal=The Sociological Review|pages=247–264|last1=Nefes|first1=Türkay S|s2cid=145632390}}</ref><ref name="Nefes">{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1467-6443.2012.01434.x|volume=25|issue=3|title=The History of the Social Constructions of Dönmes (Converts)*|year=2012|journal=Journal of Historical Sociology|pages=413–439|last1=Nefes|first1=Türkay S.}}</ref> Proposed psychological origins of conspiracy theorising include projection; the personal need to explain "a significant event [with] a significant cause;" and the product of various kinds and stages of thought disorder, such as paranoid disposition, ranging in severity to diagnosable mental illnesses. Some people prefer socio-political explanations over the insecurity of encountering [[random]], unpredictable, or otherwise inexplicable events.<ref name="business.time.com">{{Cite magazine |date=1 June 2009 |title=Wall Streeters like conspiracy theories. Always have |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |last=Fox |first=Justin |url=https://business.time.com/2009/10/01/wall-streeters-like-conspiracy-theories-always-have/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302114125/https://business.time.com/2009/10/01/wall-streeters-like-conspiracy-theories-always-have/ |archive-date=2 March 2012}}</ref><ref name="Goertzel 1994 733–744">{{cite journal|author=Goertzel|year=1994|title=Belief in Conspiracy Theories|doi=10.2307/3791630|url=http://www.crab.rutgers.edu/~goertzel/conspire.doc <!--|pages=733–44-->|pages=731–742|access-date=7 August 2006|jstor=3791630|journal=Political Psychology|volume=15|issue=4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060831210103/http://crab.rutgers.edu/~goertzel/CONSPIRE.doc|archive-date=31 August 2006|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="Douglas 2008 210–222">{{cite journal|first1=Karen|last1=Douglas|first2=Robbie|last2=Sutton|year=2008|title=The hidden impact of conspiracy theories: Perceived and actual influence of theories surrounding the death of Princess Diana|journal=Journal of Social Psychology|volume=148|issue=2|pages=210–22|doi=10.3200/SOCP.148.2.210-222|pmid=18512419|s2cid=8717161}}</ref><ref name="harpers=1964"/><ref name="Hodapp 2008">{{cite book|title=Conspiracy Theories & Secret Societies For Dummies|first=Christopher|last=Hodapp|author2=Alice Von Kannon|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]|year=2008|isbn=978-0-470-18408-0|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780470184080}}</ref><ref name="Cohen">{{cite news|last=Cohen|first=Roger|author-link=Roger Cohen|title=The Captive Arab Mind|newspaper=The New York Times|date=20 December 2010|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/opinion/21iht-edcohen21.html|access-date=18 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625080138/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/opinion/21iht-edcohen21.html|archive-date=25 June 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> According to Berlet and Lyons, "Conspiracism is a particular narrative form of scapegoating that frames demonized enemies as part of a vast insidious plot against the common good, while it valorizes the scapegoater as a hero for sounding the alarm".<ref>{{cite book|last=Berlet|first=Chip|author-link=Chip Berlet|author2=Lyons, Matthew N.|title=Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort|url=https://archive.org/details/rightwingpopulis00berlrich|url-access=registration|publisher=Guilford Press|location=New York|year=2000|isbn=978-1-57230-562-5|access-date=9 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216201705/https://archive.org/details/rightwingpopulis00berlrich|archive-date=16 December 2019|url-status=live}}{{page needed|date=September 2011}}</ref>

===Causes===
{{Anchor|Origins}}

Some psychologists believe that a search for meaning is common in conspiracism. Once cognized, [[confirmation bias]] and avoidance of [[cognitive dissonance]] may reinforce the belief. When a conspiracy theory has become embedded within a social group, [[communal reinforcement]] may also play a part.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Swami|first1=Viren|last2=Coles|first2=Rebecca|last3=Stieger|first3=Stefan|last4=Pietschnig|first4=Jakob|last5=Furnham|first5=Adrian|last6=Rehim|first6=Sherry|last7=Voracek|first7=Martin|date=2011|title=Conspiracist ideation in Britain and Austria: Evidence of a monological belief system and associations between individual psychological differences and real-world and fictitious conspiracy theories|journal=British Journal of Psychology|volume=102|issue=3|pages=443–463|doi=10.1111/j.2044-8295.2010.02004.x|pmid=21751999}}</ref>

Inquiry into possible motives behind the accepting of irrational conspiracy theories has linked<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=van Prooijen|first1=Jan-Willem|last2=Jostmann|first2=Nils B.|date=17 December 2012|title=Belief in conspiracy theories: The influence of uncertainty and perceived morality|journal=European Journal of Social Psychology|volume=43|issue=1|pages=109–115|doi=10.1002/ejsp.1922}}</ref> these beliefs to distress resulting from an event that occurred, such as the [[September 11 attacks|events of 9/11.]] Additional research suggests that "delusional ideation" is the trait most likely to indicate a stronger belief in conspiracy theories.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Dagnall|first1=Neil|last2=Drinkwater|first2=Kenneth|last3=Parker|first3=Andrew|last4=Denovan|first4=Andrew|last5=Parton|first5=Megan|date=2015|title=Conspiracy theory and cognitive style: a worldview|journal=Frontiers in Psychology|language=en|volume=6|page=206|doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00206|pmid=25762969|pmc=4340140|doi-access=free}}</ref> Research also shows an increased attachment to these irrational beliefs leads to a decreased desire for civic engagement.<ref name="BrothertonFrench2014"/> Belief in conspiracy theories is correlated with low intelligence, lower analytical thinking, [[anxiety disorder]]s, [[paranoia]], and [[authoritarian]] beliefs.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bullock|first1=John G.|last2=Lenz|first2=Gabriel|date=11 May 2019|title=Partisan Bias in Surveys|journal=Annual Review of Political Science|language=en|volume=22|issue=1|pages=325–342|doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-051117-050904|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Scientists find a link between low intelligence and acceptance of 'pseudo-profound bulls***'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/scientists-find-link-between-low-intelligence-and-acceptance-pseudo-profound-bulls-a6757731.html|newspaper=The Independent|last=Bolton|first=Doug|date=2 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories|volume=26|issue=6|doi=10.1177/0963721417718261|last1=Douglas|first1=Karen M.|last2=Sutton|first2=Robbie M.|last3=Cichocka|first3=Aleksandra|journal=Current Directions in Psychological Science|date=7 December 2017|pages=538–542|pmid=29276345|pmc=5724570}}</ref>

Professor [[Quassim Cassam]] argues that conspiracy theorists hold their beliefs due to flaws in their thinking and, more precisely, their intellectual character. He cites philosopher [[Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski]] and her book ''Virtues of the Mind'' in outlining intellectual virtues (such as humility, caution, and carefulness) and intellectual vices (such as gullibility, carelessness, and closed-mindedness). Whereas intellectual virtues help reach sound examination, intellectual vices "impede effective and responsible inquiry", meaning that those prone to believing in conspiracy theories possess certain vices while lacking necessary virtues.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cassam|first1=Quassim|title=Bad Thinkers|url=https://aeon.co/essays/the-intellectual-character-of-conspiracy-theorists|publisher=Aeon|date=13 March 2015}}</ref>

Some researchers have suggested that conspiracy theories could be partially caused by the human brain's mechanisms for detecting dangerous coalitions. Such a mechanism could have been helpful in the small-scale environment humanity evolved in but is mismatched in a modern, complex society and thus "misfire", perceiving conspiracies where none exist.<ref>van Prooijen, Jan-Willem, and Van Vugt, Mark (2018) "Conspiracy theories: Evolved functions and psychological mechanisms" ''[[Perspectives on Psychological Science]]'' v.13, n.6, pp.770–788</ref>

====Projection====
Some historians have argued that [[psychological projection]] is prevalent amongst conspiracy theorists. According to the argument, this projection is manifested in the form of attributing undesirable characteristics of the self to the conspirators. Historian Richard Hofstadter stated that:

{{blockquote|This enemy seems on many counts a projection of the self; both the ideal and the unacceptable aspects of the self are attributed to him. A fundamental paradox of the paranoid style is the imitation of the enemy. The enemy, for example, may be the cosmopolitan intellectual, but the paranoid will outdo him in the apparatus of scholarship, even of pedantry.&nbsp;...&nbsp;The Ku Klux Klan imitated Catholicism to the point of donning priestly vestments, developing an elaborate ritual and an equally elaborate hierarchy. The [[John Birch Society]] emulates Communist cells and quasi-secret operation through "front" groups, and preaches a ruthless prosecution of the ideological war along lines very similar to those it finds in the Communist enemy. Spokesmen of the various fundamentalist anti-Communist "crusades" openly express their admiration for the dedication, discipline, and strategic ingenuity the Communist cause calls forth.<ref name="harpers=1964"/>}}

Hofstadter also noted that "sexual freedom" is a vice frequently attributed to the conspiracist's target group, noting that "very often the fantasies of true believers reveal strong sadomasochistic outlets, vividly expressed, for example, in the delight of anti-Masons with the cruelty of Masonic punishments".<ref name="harpers=1964">{{cite book|author=Hofstadter, Richard|author-link=Richard Hofstadter|year=1965|title=The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Other Essays|location=New York|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|isbn=978-0-674-65461-7|pages=32–33|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XcLSoljnmBcC&q=0674654617|access-date=27 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418133817/https://books.google.com/books?id=XcLSoljnmBcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=0674654617#v=onepage&q=This%20enemy%20seems%20to%20be%20on%20many%20counts%20a%20projection|archive-date=18 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Physiology====
[[Marcel Danesi]] suggests that people who believe conspiracy theories have difficulty rethinking situations. Exposure to those theories has caused neural pathways to be more rigid and less subject to change. Initial susceptibility to believing these theories' lies, dehumanizing language, and metaphors leads to the acceptance of larger and more extensive theories because the hardened neural pathways are already present. Repetition of the "facts" of conspiracy theories and their connected lies simply reinforces the rigidity of those pathways. Thus, conspiracy theories and dehumanizing lies are not mere hyperbole; they can actually change the way people think:

{{blockquote|Unfortunately, research into this brain wiring also shows that once people begin to believe lies, they are unlikely to change their minds even when confronted with evidence that contradicts their beliefs. It is a form of brainwashing. Once the brain has carved out a well-worn path of believing deceit, it is even harder to step out of that path – which is how fanatics are born. Instead, these people will seek out information that confirms their beliefs, avoid anything that is in conflict with them, or even turn the contrasting information on its head, so as to make it fit their beliefs.{{pb}}People with strong convictions will have a hard time changing their minds, given how embedded a lie becomes in the mind. In fact, there are scientists and scholars still studying the best tools and tricks to combat lies with some combination of brain training and linguistic awareness.<ref>Danesi, Marcel (30 July 2023) [https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/07/30/the-connection-between-political-lies-and-conspiracy-theories-00108378 "What Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán Understand About Your Brain"] ''[[Politico]]''</ref>}}

==Sociology==
In addition to psychological factors such as conspiracist ideation, sociological factors also help account for who believes in which conspiracy theories. Such theories tend to get more traction among election losers in society, for example, and the emphasis on conspiracy theories by elites and leaders tends to increase belief among followers with higher levels of conspiracy thinking.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Uscinski|first1=Joseph E.|author-link1=Joseph Uscinski|title=Conspiring for the Common Good|url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/2019/07/conspiring-for-the-common-good/|website=[[Skeptical Inquirer]]|publisher=[[Center for Inquiry]]|access-date=9 February 2020|date=2 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402135711/https://skepticalinquirer.org/2019/07/conspiring-for-the-common-good/|archive-date=2 April 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Christopher Hitchens]] described conspiracy theories as the "exhaust fumes of democracy":<ref name="Hodapp 2008"/> the unavoidable result of a large amount of information circulating among a large number of people.

Conspiracy theories may be emotionally satisfying, as they assign blame to a group to which the theorist does not belong and, thus, absolve the theorist of moral or political responsibility in society.<ref>{{cite news|first=Shankar|last=Vedantam|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/04/AR2006060400618.html|title=Born With the Desire to Know the Unknown|newspaper=The Washington Post|page=A02|date=5 June 2006|access-date=7 June 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501144444/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/04/AR2006060400618.html|archive-date=1 May 2011|url-status=live}} Sociologist Theodore Sasson has remarked, "Conspiracy theories explain disturbing events or social phenomena in terms of the actions of specific, powerful individuals. By providing simple explanations of distressing events—the conspiracy theory in the Arab world, for example, that the [[11 September attacks]] were planned by the Israeli Mossad—they deflect responsibility or keep people from acknowledging that tragic events sometimes happen inexplicably."</ref> Likewise, [[Roger Cohen]] writing for ''[[The New York Times]]'' has said that, "captive minds; ... resort to conspiracy theory because it is the ultimate refuge of the powerless. If you cannot change your own life, it must be that some greater force controls the world."<ref name="Cohen"/>

Sociological historian Holger Herwig found in studying German explanations for the origins of [[World War I]], "Those events that are most important are hardest to understand because they attract the greatest attention from myth makers and charlatans."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Keith|title=Forging the Collective Memory: Government and International Historians through Two World Wars|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-1-78238-828-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ojipBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA89|date=1 November 1996}}</ref> [[Justin Fox]] of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine argues that Wall Street traders are among the most conspiracy-minded group of people, and ascribes this to the reality of some financial market conspiracies, and to the ability of conspiracy theories to provide necessary orientation in the market's day-to-day movements.<ref name="business.time.com"/>

===Influence of critical theory===

[[Bruno Latour]] notes that the language and intellectual tactics of [[critical theory]] have been appropriated by those he describes as conspiracy theorists, including [[climate-change denial]]ists and the [[9/11 Truth movement]]: "Maybe I am taking conspiracy theories too seriously, but I am worried to detect, in those mad mixtures of knee-jerk disbelief, punctilious demands for proofs, and free use of powerful explanation from the social neverland, many of the weapons of social critique."<ref name="critiquesteam">{{Citation|last=Latour|first=Bruno|author-link=Bruno Latour|title=Why Has Critique Run out of Steam? From Matters of Fact to Matters of Concern.|journal=Critical Inquiry|volume=30|issue=2|pages=225–48|date=Winter 2004|url=http://www.bruno-latour.fr:80/sites/default/files/89-CRITICAL-INQUIRY-GB.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916045752/http://www.bruno-latour.fr/sites/default/files/89-CRITICAL-INQUIRY-GB.pdf|archive-date=16 September 2012|access-date=16 September 2012|doi=10.1086/421123|s2cid=159523434|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Fusion paranoia===
[[Michael Kelly (editor)|Michael Kelly]], a ''[[Washington Post]]'' journalist and critic of [[anti-war]] movements on both the left and right, coined the term "fusion paranoia" to refer to a political convergence of left-wing and right-wing activists around anti-war issues and [[civil liberties]], which he said were motivated by a shared belief in conspiracism or shared [[Anti-statism|anti-government]] views.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1995/06/19/the-road-to-paranoia|title=THE ROAD TO PARANOIA|last=Kelly|first=Michael|date=12 June 1995|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=9 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409110230/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1995/06/19/the-road-to-paranoia|archive-date=9 April 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Barkun has adopted this term to refer to how the synthesis of paranoid conspiracy theories, which were once limited to American fringe audiences, has given them mass appeal and enabled them to become commonplace in [[mass media]],{{sfn|Barkun|2003|p=230}} thereby inaugurating an unrivaled period of people actively preparing for [[apocalypticism|apocalyptic]] or [[millenarian]] scenarios in the United States of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.{{sfn|Barkun|2003|pp=207, 210, 211}} Barkun notes the occurrence of lone-wolf conflicts with law enforcement acting as a proxy for threatening the established political powers.{{sfn|Barkun|2003|pp=193, 197}}

==Viability ==
As evidence that undermines an alleged conspiracy grows, the number of alleged conspirators also grows in the minds of conspiracy theorists. This is because of an assumption that the alleged conspirators often have competing interests. For example, if Republican President [[George W. Bush]] is allegedly responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the Democratic party did not pursue exposing this alleged plot, that must mean that both the Democratic and Republican parties are conspirators in the alleged plot. It also assumes that the alleged conspirators are so competent that they can fool the entire world, but so incompetent that even the unskilled conspiracy theorists can find mistakes they make that prove the fraud. At some point, the number of alleged conspirators, combined with the contradictions within the alleged conspirators' interests and competence, becomes so great that maintaining the theory becomes an obvious exercise in absurdity.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Novella |first1=Steven |last2=Novella |first2=Bob |last3=Santa Maria |first3=Cara |last4=Novella |first4=Jay |last5=Bernstein |first5=Evan |title=The skeptics' guide to the universe: how to know what's really real in a world increasingly full of fake |date=2018 |publisher=Grand Central Publishing |location=New York |isbn=978-1-5387-6053-6 |pages=206–207 |edition=First}}</ref>

The physicist [[David Robert Grimes]] estimated the time it would take for a conspiracy to be exposed based on the number of people involved.<ref name="pbs_plos_one">{{cite web|last1=Barajas|first1=Joshua|title=How many people does it take to keep a conspiracy alive?|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/math-formula-charts-the-lifespan-of-hoaxes|website=PBS News Hour|publisher=PBS|access-date=22 July 2016|date=15 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013022744/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/math-formula-charts-the-lifespan-of-hoaxes/|archive-date=13 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Grimes_PLOS_ONE">{{cite journal|last1=Grimes|first1=David R|author-link1=David Robert Grimes|title=On the Viability of Conspiratorial Beliefs|journal=PLOS ONE|date=26 January 2016|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0147905|pmid=26812482|volume=11|issue=1|pmc=4728076|article-number=e0147905|bibcode=2016PLoSO..1147905G|doi-access=free}}</ref> His calculations used data from the [[PRISM surveillance program]], the [[Tuskegee syphilis experiment]], and the [[FBI Laboratory#Controversy|FBI forensic scandal]]. Grimes estimated that:
* A [[Moon landing hoax]] would require the involvement of 411,000 people and would be exposed within 3.68 years;
* [[Global warming conspiracy theory|Climate-change fraud]] would require a minimum of 29,083 people (published climate scientists only) and would be exposed within 26.77 years, or up to 405,000 people, in which case it would be exposed within 3.70 years;
* A vaccination conspiracy would require a minimum of 22,000 people (without drug companies) and would be exposed within at least 3.15 years and at most 34.78 years depending on the number involved;
* A conspiracy to [[Big Pharma conspiracy theory|suppress a cure for cancer]] would require 714,000 people and would be exposed within 3.17 years.
Grimes's study did not consider exposure by sources outside of the alleged conspiracy. It only considered exposure from within the alleged conspiracy through whistleblowers or through incompetence.<ref>Novella, Steven, et al. ''The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake''. Grand Central Publishing, 2018. pp. 209–210.</ref> Subsequent comments on the [[PubPeer]] website<ref>{{Cite web|title=On the Viability of Conspiratorial Beliefs|url=https://pubpeer.com/publications/48DA2B5CAAD0374925C844B5377DF1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322070112/https://pubpeer.com/publications/48DA2B5CAAD0374925C844B5377DF1|archive-date=22 March 2024|website=PubPeer}}</ref> point out that these calculations must exclude successful conspiracies since, by definition, we don't know about them, and are wrong by an order of magnitude about [[Bletchley Park]], which remained a secret far longer than Grimes' calculations predicted.

==Terminology==
<!---redirects target this section--->
The term "truth seeker" is adopted by some conspiracy theorists when describing themselves on social media.<ref>{{cite web|last=Tiffany|first=Kaitlyn|title=The truth seekers are coming|website=[[The Atlantic]]|date=17 March 2021|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/03/conspiracy-theorist-new-term-truth-seekers-instagram/618299/|url-access=subscription|access-date=24 January 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124060426/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/03/conspiracy-theorist-new-term-truth-seekers-instagram/618299/|archive-date=24 January 2023}}</ref> Conspiracy theorists are often referred to derogatorily as "[[cooker (slang)|cookers]]" in Australia.<ref>{{cite web|last=Evans|first=Steve|title='Rabbit hole of a conspiracy cult': 'Cooker' watching a new ACT pursuit|website=[[The Canberra Times]]|date=16 May 2022|url=https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7725857/rabbit-hole-of-a-conspiracy-cult-cooker-watching-a-new-act-pursuit/|access-date=24 January 2023|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230114003158/https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7725857/rabbit-hole-of-a-conspiracy-cult-cooker-watching-a-new-act-pursuit/|archive-date=14 January 2023}}</ref> The term "cooker" is also loosely associated with the [[far-right politics in Australia|far right]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Withers|first=Rachel|title=Cooking up a storm|website=[[The Monthly]]|date=17 November 2022|url=https://www.themonthly.com.au/the-politics/rachel-withers/2022/11/17/cooking-storm|access-date=24 January 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title='Cookers' are a product of the modern Left|website=The Spectator Australia|date=16 December 2022|url=https://www.spectator.com.au/2022/12/cookers-are-a-product-of-the-modern-left/|access-date=24 January 2023}}</ref>

==Politics==
[[File:911worldopinionpoll Sep2008.png|thumb|upright=1.75|A [[Opinion polls about 9/11 conspiracy theories|2008 poll]] found that majorities in only 9 of 17 countries believed that [[al-Qaeda]] carried out the [[9/11 attacks]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/international_security_bt/535.php|title=International Poll: No Consensus on Who Was Behind 9/11|work=WorldPublicOpinion.org|publisher=[[Program on International Policy Attitudes]]|location=[[University of Maryland, College Park]]|date=10 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110705222905/http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/international_security_bt/535.php|archive-date=5 July 2011}}</ref>]]

The philosopher [[Karl Popper]] described the central problem of conspiracy theories as a form of [[fundamental attribution error]], where every event is generally perceived as being intentional and planned, greatly underestimating the effects of randomness and unintended consequences.<ref name="SciAm2013"/> In his book ''[[The Open Society and Its Enemies]]'', he used the term "the conspiracy theory of society" to denote the idea that social phenomena such as "war, unemployment, poverty, shortages&nbsp;... [are] the result of direct design by some powerful individuals and groups".<ref>{{cite book|last=Popper|first=Karl|author-link=Karl Popper|title=Open Society and Its Enemies, Book II|year=1945|publisher=Routledge and Kegan Paul|location=London|chapter=14}}</ref> Popper argued that [[totalitarianism]] was founded on conspiracy theories which drew on imaginary plots which were driven by paranoid scenarios predicated on [[tribalism]], [[chauvinism]], or [[racism]]. He also noted that conspirators very rarely achieved their goal.<ref name="dohloo">{{cite web|url=http://lachlan.bluehaze.com.au/books/popper_open_society.html|title=Extracts from "The Open Society and Its Enemies Volume 2: The High Tide of Prophecy: Hegel, Marx and the Aftermath" by Karl Raimund Popper (Originally published 1945)|publisher=Lachlan Cranswick, quoting Karl Raimund Popper|access-date=5 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903232539/http://lachlan.bluehaze.com.au/books/popper_open_society.html|archive-date=3 September 2006|url-status=live}}</ref>

Historically, real conspiracies have usually had little effect on history and have had [[unforeseen consequence]]s for the conspirators, in contrast to conspiracy theories, which often posit grand, sinister organizations or world-changing events, the evidence for which has been erased or obscured.<ref name="Cumings1999"/><ref name="SciAmShermer">{{cite journal|last1=Shermer|first1=Michael|title=The Conspiracy Theory Detector|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-conspiracy-theory-director/|journal=Scientific American|year=2010|volume=303|issue=6|page=102|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican1210-102|bibcode=2010SciAm.303f.102S|access-date=14 July 2021|url-access=subscription}}</ref> As described by [[Bruce Cumings]], history is instead "moved by the broad forces and large structures of human collectivities".<ref name="Cumings1999">{{cite book|last=Cumings|first=Bruce|title=The Origins of the Korean War, Vol. II, The Roaring of the Cataract, 1947–1950|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|location=Princeton, NJ|year=1999}}{{page needed|date=September 2011}}</ref>

===Arab world===
{{Main|Conspiracy theories in the Arab world}}

Conspiracy theories are a prevalent feature of [[Arab]] culture and politics.<ref name="Gray">{{cite book|title=Conspiracy Theories in the Arab World|author=Matthew Gray|isbn=978-0-415-57518-8|year=2010|publisher=Routledge}}</ref> Variants include conspiracies involving colonialism, [[Zionism]], superpowers, oil, and the [[war on terrorism]], which is often referred to in Arab media as a "[[war against Islam]]".<ref name="Gray"/> For example, ''[[The Protocols of the Elders of Zion]]'', an infamous [[hoax]] document purporting to be a Jewish plan for world domination, is commonly read and promoted in the Muslim world.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/26/world/anti-semitic-elders-of-zion-gets-new-life-on-egypt-tv.html|title=Anti-Semitic 'Elders of Zion' Gets New Life on Egypt TV|last=Wakin|first=Daniel J.|date=26 October 2002|work=The New York Times|access-date=26 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816063157/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/26/world/anti-semitic-elders-of-zion-gets-new-life-on-egypt-tv.html|archive-date=16 August 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/religion/pdfdocs/KSAtextbooks06.pdf|title=2006 Saudi Arabia's Curriculum of Intolerance|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060823125127/http://www.freedomhouse.org/religion/pdfdocs/KSAtextbooks06.pdf|archive-date=23 August 2006}} Report by Center for Religious Freedom of Freedom House. 2006</ref><ref>[https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB113046423225782130 "The Booksellers of Tehran"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410052122/https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB113046423225782130 |date=10 April 2017}}, ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', 28 October 2005</ref> [[Roger Cohen]] has suggested that the popularity of conspiracy theories in the Arab world is "the ultimate refuge of the powerless".<ref name="Cohen"/> Al-Mumin Said has noted the danger of such theories, for they "keep us not only from the truth but also from confronting our faults and problems".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://old.nationalreview.com/comment/stalinsky200405060835.asp|title=A Vast Conspiracy|date=6 May 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220251/http://old.nationalreview.com/comment/stalinsky200405060835.asp|archive-date=4 October 2013|work=National Review|author=Steven Stalinsky}}</ref> [[Osama bin Laden]] and [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]] used conspiracy theories about the United States to gain support for [[al-Qaeda]] in the Arab world, and as rhetoric to distinguish themselves from similar groups, although they may not have believed the conspiratorial claims themselves.<ref name="Gray158-159">{{cite book|author=Matthew Gray|title=Conspiracy Theories in the Arab World: Sources and Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BpxdBwAAQBAJ|date=12 July 2010|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-96751-1|pages=158–159}}</ref>

===Turkey===
{{Main|Conspiracy theories in Turkey}}

Conspiracy theories are a prevalent feature of culture and politics in [[Turkey]]. Conspiracism is an important phenomenon in understanding Turkish politics.<ref name="tinfoil">{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/09/12/the-tin-foil-hats-are-out-in-turkey/|title=The Tin-Foil Hats Are Out in Turkey|date=12 September 2016|work=[[Foreign Policy]]|author=Mustafa Akyol|access-date=10 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109063325/http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/09/12/the-tin-foil-hats-are-out-in-turkey/|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> This is explained by a desire to "make up for our lost [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] grandeur",<ref name="tinfoil"/> the humiliation of perceiving Turkey as part of "the malfunctioning half" of the world,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/06/turkey-erdogan-election-kurds/563240/|title=How Nietzsche Explains Turkey|date=21 June 2018|work=[[The Atlantic]]|author=Selim Koru|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621221333/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/06/turkey-erdogan-election-kurds/563240/|archive-date=21 June 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> and a "low level of media literacy among the Turkish population."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://osi.bg/downloads/File/2018/MediaLiteracyIndex2018_publishENG.pdf|title=COMMON SENSE WANTED – Resilence to 'post-truth' and its predictors in the new media literacy index 2018|date=March 2018|publisher=Open Society Institute – Sofia|author=Marin Lessenski|access-date=6 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180403150737/http://osi.bg/downloads/File/2018/MediaLiteracyIndex2018_publishENG.pdf|archive-date=3 April 2018}}</ref>

There are a wide variety of conspiracy theories including the [[Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory]],<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Marc David Baer|date=2013|title=An Enemy Old and New: The Dönme, Anti-Semitism, and Conspiracy Theories in the Ottoman Empire and Turkish Republic|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/|journal=Jewish Quarterly Review|volume=103|issue=4|pages=523–555|doi=10.1353/jqr.2013.0033|s2cid=159483845|via=Project MUSE|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00263206.2021.1950691|doi=10.1080/00263206.2021.1950691|title=The journal ''İnkılâp'' and the appeal of antisemitism in interwar Turkey|date=2022|last1=Lamprou|first1=Alexandros|journal=Middle Eastern Studies|volume=58|pages=32–47|url-access=subscription}}</ref> the [[International Jewish conspiracy#Turkey|international Jewish conspiracy theory]], and the [[war against Islam conspiracy theory]]. For example, [[Islamists]], dissatisfied with the [[modernity|modernist]] and [[secularist]] reforms that took place throughout the history of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic, have put forward many conspiracy theories to defame the [[Treaty of Lausanne]], an important peace treaty for the country, and the republic's founder [[Kemal Atatürk]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=In Turkey, conspiracy theories about the Peace Treaty of Lausanne run riot|url=https://www.skeptic.org.uk/2023/03/in-turkey-conspiracy-theories-about-the-peace-treaty-of-lausanne-run-riot/|website=The Skeptic|access-date=17 May 2024|date=29 March 2023|archive-date=2 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702083157/https://www.skeptic.org.uk/2023/03/in-turkey-conspiracy-theories-about-the-peace-treaty-of-lausanne-run-riot/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Lozan Antlaşması'nın 100. Yılında Komplo Teorileri ve Gizli Maddelerin İzinde|url=https://yalansavar.org/2023/07/25/lozan-antlasmasinin-100-yilinda-komplo-teorileri-ve-gizli-maddelerin-izinde/|website=Yalansavar|access-date=17 May 2024|language=Turkish|date=25 July 2023|archive-date=6 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230806150445/https://yalansavar.org/2023/07/25/lozan-antlasmasinin-100-yilinda-komplo-teorileri-ve-gizli-maddelerin-izinde/}}</ref> Another example is the [[Sèvres syndrome]], a reference to the [[Treaty of Sèvres]] of 1920, a popular belief in Turkey that dangerous internal and external enemies, especially [[Western world|the West]], are "conspiring to weaken and carve up the Turkish Republic".<ref>{{cite book|last=Göçek|first=Fatma Müge|title=The Transformation of Turkey: Redefining State and Society from the Ottoman Empire to the Modern Era|page=105|year=2011|publisher=I.B.Tauris|location=London|isbn=978-1-84885-611-0}}</ref>

===United States===
{{Main|Conspiracy theories in United States politics}}

The historian [[Richard Hofstadter]] addressed the role of [[paranoia]] and conspiracism throughout [[U.S. history]] in his 1964 essay "[[The Paranoid Style in American Politics]]". [[Bernard Bailyn]]'s classic ''[[The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution]]'' (1967) notes that a similar phenomenon could be found in North America during the time preceding the [[American Revolution]]. Conspiracism labels people's attitudes and the type of conspiracy theories that are more global and historical in proportion.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bailyn|first=Bernard|title='The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|location=Cambridge|id=ASIN: B000NUF6FQ|isbn=978-0-674-44302-0|year=1992|orig-date=1967}}{{page needed|date=September 2011}}</ref>

Harry G. West and others have noted that while conspiracy theorists may often be dismissed as a fringe minority, certain evidence suggests that a wide range of the U.S. believes in conspiracy theories. West also compares those theories to [[hypernationalism]] and [[religious fundamentalism]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Transparency and Conspiracy: Ethnographies of Suspicion in the New World Order|author=Harry G. West|publisher=Duke University Press Books|pages=4, 207–08|display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref>[[Shermer, Michael]], and Pat Linse. ''Conspiracy Theories''. Altadena, CA: Skeptics Society, n.d. Print.</ref> Theologian Robert Jewett and philosopher [[John Shelton Lawrence]] attribute the enduring popularity of conspiracy theories in the U.S. to the [[Cold War]], [[McCarthyism]], and [[Counterculture of the 1960s|counterculture]] rejection of authority. They state that among both the left-wing and right-wing, there remains a willingness to use real events, such as Soviet plots, inconsistencies in the [[Warren Report]], and the [[9/11 attacks]], to support the existence of unverified and ongoing large-scale conspiracies.<ref>Jewett, Robert; John Shelton Lawrence (2004) [https://books.google.com/books?id=VE2k18ScPnQC&q=%22conspiracy%20theories%22 ''Captain America and the Crusade Against Evil: The Dilemma of Zealous Nationalism''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418133818/https://books.google.com/books?id=VE2k18ScPnQC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=%22conspiracy%20theories%22 |date=18 April 2019}} Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing p. 206.</ref>

In his studies of "American political demonology", historian [[Michael Paul Rogin]] too analyzed this paranoid style of politics that has occurred throughout American history. Conspiracy theories frequently identify an imaginary subversive group that is supposedly attacking the nation and requires the government and allied forces to engage in harsh extra-legal repression of those threatening subversives. Rogin cites examples from the Red Scares of 1919 to McCarthy's anti-communist campaign in the 1950s and, more recently, fears of immigrant hordes invading the US. Unlike Hofstadter, Rogin saw these "countersubversive" fears as frequently coming from those in power and dominant groups instead of from the dispossessed. Unlike Robert Jewett, Rogin blamed not the counterculture but America's dominant culture of liberal individualism and the fears it stimulated to explain the periodic eruption of irrational conspiracy theories.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rogin|first=Michael Paul|title=Ronald Reagan, the Movie and Other Episodes in Political Demonology|year=1988|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-06469-0|page=7}}</ref> The [[Watergate scandal]] has also been used to bestow legitimacy to other conspiracy theories, with [[Richard Nixon]] himself commenting that it served as a "[[Rorschach ink blot]]" which invited others to fill in the underlying pattern.<ref name="knight-2003"/>

Historian Kathryn S. Olmsted cites three reasons why Americans are prone to believing in government conspiracy theories:

# Genuine government overreach and secrecy during the Cold War, such as [[Watergate]], the [[Tuskegee syphilis experiment]], [[Project MKUltra]], and the CIA's [[assassination attempts on Fidel Castro]] in collaboration with mobsters.
# Precedent set by official government-sanctioned conspiracy theories for propaganda, such as claims of German infiltration of the U.S. during World War II or the debunked claim that [[Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda link allegations|Saddam Hussein played a role in the 9/11 attacks]].
# Distrust fostered by the government's spying on and harassment of dissenters, such as the [[Sedition Act of 1918]], [[COINTELPRO]], and as part of various [[Red Scare]]s.<ref>Olmsted, Kathryn S. (2011). [https://books.google.com/books?id=u7Sd5vyOOtEC&pg=PA8 ''Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418133815/https://books.google.com/books?id=u7Sd5vyOOtEC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA8 |date=18 April 2019}}. Oxford University Press, p. 8.</ref>

[[Alex Jones]] referenced numerous conspiracy theories for convincing his supporters to endorse [[Ron Paul]] over [[Mitt Romney]] in the [[2012 Republican Party presidential primaries]] and [[Donald Trump]] over [[Hillary Clinton]] in the [[2016 United States presidential election]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Friedersdorf|first=Conor|date=29 October 2011|title=Ron Paul, Conspiracy Theories, and the Right|work=[[The Atlantic]]|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/12/ron-paul-conspiracy-theories-and-the-right/250638/|access-date=30 August 2020}}</ref><ref>Stack, Liam (3 October 2016). [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/us/politics/alex-jones.html "He Calls Hillary Clinton a 'Demon.' Who Is Alex Jones?"] ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref> Into the 2020s, the [[QAnon conspiracy theory]] alleges that Trump is fighting against a [[Deep state in the United States|deep-state]] [[cabal]] of child sex-abusing and Satan-worshipping [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]].<ref name="Nature 2021"/><ref name="Crossley 2021"/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Bracewell|first=Lorna|date=21 January 2021|title=Gender, Populism, and the QAnon Conspiracy Movement|journal=[[Frontiers in Sociology]]|volume=5|article-number=615727|doi=10.3389/fsoc.2020.615727|doi-access=free|pmc=8022489|pmid=33869533|s2cid=231654586}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author-last=O'Donnell|author-first=Jonathon|date=September 2020|title=The deliverance of the administrative state: Deep state conspiracism, charismatic demonology, and the post-truth politics of American Christian nationalism|editor1-last=Stausberg|editor1-first=Michael|editor1-link=Michael Stausberg|editor2-last=Engler|editor2-first=Steven|editor2-link=Steven Engler (religion scholar)|journal=[[Religion (journal)|Religion]]|volume=50|issue=4|pages=696–719|doi=10.1080/0048721X.2020.1810817|s2cid=222094116}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Roose|first=Kevin|date=3 September 2021|orig-date=4 March 2021|title=What Is QAnon, the Viral Pro-Trump Conspiracy Theory?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-qanon.html|url-status=live|location=[[New York City]]|work=The New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210919060514/https://www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-qanon.html|archive-date=19 September 2021|url-access=limited|access-date=25 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Bowman|first=Emma|date=4 February 2021|title=Why QAnon Survives After Trump|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/02/04/963861418/why-qanon-survives-after-trump|url-status=live|publisher=[[NPR]]|location=[[Washington, D.C.]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905103408/https://www.npr.org/2021/02/04/963861418/why-qanon-survives-after-trump|archive-date=5 September 2021|access-date=25 September 2021}}</ref>

==See also==
* {{anli|Apophenia}}
* {{annotated link|Big lie}}
* {{annotated link|Conspiracy fiction}}
* {{anli|Disinformation}}
* {{annotated link|Fake news}}
* {{annotated link|Fringe theory}}
* {{annotated link|Furtive fallacy}}
* {{annotated link|List of conspiracy theories}}
* {{annotated link|Philosophy of conspiracy theories}}
* {{annotated link|Propaganda}}
* {{annotated link|Pseudohistory}}

== References ==
=== Informational notes ===
{{Notelist}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book|last=Aaronovitch|first=David|author-link=David Aaronovitch|title=Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History|year=2010|publisher=Riverhead|isbn=978-1-59448-895-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/voodoohistoriesr0000aaro}}
* {{cite book|editor=Arnold, Gordon B.|year=2008|title=Conspiracy Theory in Film, Television, and Politics|page=200|publisher=[[Praeger Publishers]]|isbn=978-0-275-99462-4}}
* Burnett, Thom. ''[[Conspiracy Encyclopedia: The Encyclopedia of Conspiracy Theories]]''
* {{Cite journal|last1=Butter|first1=Michael|author2=Peter Knight|date=November 2015|title=Bridging the Great Divide: Conspiracy Theory Research for the 21st Century|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0392192116669289|url-access=subscription|journal=Diogenes|volume=62|issue=3–4|pages=17–29|doi=10.1177/0392192116669289|s2cid=152067265}}
* {{cite book|author=Chase, Alston|year=2003|title=Harvard and the Unabomber: The Education of an American Terrorist|location=New York|publisher=W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-02002-1|url=https://archive.org/details/harvardunabomber00chas}}
* {{cite book|editor=Coward, Barry|year=2004|title=Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theory in Early Modern Europe: From the Waldensians to the French Revolution|publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]]|isbn=978-0-7546-3564-2}}
* {{cite journal|date=23 October 2009|title=Conspiracy Theories|journal=CQ Researcher|volume=19|issue=37|pages=885–908|url=http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/uploadedFiles/news/Conspiracy%20Theories.pdf|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/uploadedFiles/news/Conspiracy%20Theories.pdf|archive-date=9 October 2022|url-status=live}}
* {{cite news|last1=Cziesche|first1=Dominik|author2=Jürgen Dahlkamp|author3=Ulrich Fichtner|author4=Ulrich Jaeger|author5=Gunther Latsch|author6=Gisela Leske|author7=Max F. Ruppert|year=2003|title=Panoply of the Absurd|url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/cover-story-panoply-of-the-absurd-a-265160.html|work=[[Der Spiegel]]|access-date=28 November 2023}}
* De Graaf, Beatrice and Zwierlein, Cornel (eds.) [https://www.gesis.org/en/hsr/full-text-archive/2013/381-security-and-conspiracy/ "Security and Conspiracy in History, 16th to 21st Century"]. ''[[Historical Social Research]]'' 38, Special Issue, 2013
* Fleming, Chris and Emma A. Jane. ''Modern Conspiracy: The Importance of Being Paranoid''. New York and London: Bloomsbury, 2014. {{ISBN|978-1-62356-091-1}}.
* Goertzel, Ted. "Belief in conspiracy theories". ''Political Psychology'' (1994): 731–742. [http://www.crab.rutgers.edu/~goertzel/CONSPIRE.doc online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060831210103/http://crab.rutgers.edu/~goertzel/CONSPIRE.doc |date=31 August 2006}}
* {{Cite book|last=Graff|first=Garrett|author-link=Garrett Graff|year=2023|title=UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here—and Out There|location=New York|publisher=Avid Reader Press|isbn=978-1-9821-9677-6|oclc=1407420009}}
* Harris, Lee. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130114231139/http://american.com/archive/2013/january/the-trouble-with-conspiracy-theories "The Trouble with Conspiracy Theories"]. ''The American'', 12 January 2013.
* Hofstadter, Richard. ''The Paranoid Style in American Politics'' (1954). [https://web.archive.org/web/20170116220729/http://www.fuminyang.com/michelle/Paranoid%20Style.pdf online]
* {{cite book|author=Johnson, George|year=1983|title=Architects of Fear: Conspiracy Theories and Paranoia in American Politics|location=Los Angeles|publisher=Jeremy P. Tarcher|isbn=978-0-87477-275-3|url=https://archive.org/details/architectsoffear00john}}
* {{cite book|author1=McConnachie, James|author2=Tudge, Robin|year=2005|title=The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories|publisher=Rough Guides|isbn=978-1-84353-445-7}}
* {{cite book|author=Melley, Timothy|year=1999|title=Empire of Conspiracy: The Culture of Paranoia in Postwar America|location=Ithaca, New York|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-8606-7}}
* {{cite web|first=James B.|last=Meigs|year=2006|url=http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/4199607.html|title=The Conspiracy Industry|work=Popular Mechanics|access-date=13 October 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061024062122/http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/4199607.html|archive-date=24 October 2006}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Nefes|first1=Türkay Salim|year=2012|title=The history of the social constructions of Dönmes|journal=Journal of Historical Sociology|volume=25|issue=3|pages=413–39|doi=10.1111/j.1467-6443.2012.01434.x}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Nefes|first1=Türkay Salim|year=2013|title=Political parties' perceptions and uses of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories in Turkey|journal=The Sociological Review|volume=61|issue=2|pages=247–64|doi=10.1111/1467-954X.12016|s2cid=145632390}}
* Oliver, J. Eric, and Thomas J. Wood. "Conspiracy theories and the paranoid style(s) of mass opinion". ''American Journal of Political Science'' 58.4 (2014): 952–966.[http://hon3397p.wp.txstate.edu/files/2015/08/OliverWood.pdf online]
* {{cite news|last=Parsons|first=Charlotte|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1561199.stm|title=Why we need conspiracy theories|department=Americas|publisher=BBC News|access-date=26 June 2006|date=24 September 2001}}
* {{cite book|author=Pipes, Daniel|year=1998|title=The Hidden Hand: Middle East Fears of Conspiracy|location=New York|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-0-312-17688-4|title-link=The Hidden Hand: Middle East Fears of Conspiracy}}
* {{cite book|author=Pipes, Daniel|year=1997|title=Conspiracy: How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where It Comes From|location=New York|publisher=The Free Press|isbn=978-0-684-87111-0|title-link=Conspiracy: How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where It Comes From}}
* {{cite journal|title=Popper Revisited, or What Is Wrong with Conspiracy Theories?|journal=Philosophy of the Social Sciences|year=1995|last=Pigden|first=Charles|volume=25|issue=1|pages=3–34|doi=10.1177/004839319502500101|s2cid=143602969|citeseerx=10.1.1.964.4190}}<!--|access-date=13 April 2015 -->
* {{cite book|author=Sagan, Carl|author-link=Carl Sagan|year=1996|title=The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark|location=New York|publisher=The Random House|isbn=978-0-394-53512-8}}
* Slosson, W. [https://archive.org/stream/unpopularreview07newy#page/394/mode/2up "The 'Conspiracy' Superstition"]. ''The Unpopular Review'', Vol. VII, No. 14, 1917.
* Sunstein, Cass R., and Adrian Vermeule. "Conspiracy theories: Causes and cures". ''Journal of Political Philosophy'' 17.2 (2009): 202–227. [http://www.ask-force.org/web/Discourse/Sunstein-Conspiracy-Theories-2009.pdf online]
* Uscinski, Joseph E. and Joseph M. Parent, ''American Conspiracy Theories'' (2014) [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0199351813/ excerpt]
* Uscinski, Joseph E. [https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/08/conspiracy-theories-2016-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-214183/ "The 5 Most Dangerous Conspiracy Theories of 2016"]. ''Politico Magazine'' (22 Aug 2016)
* {{cite book|author1=Vankin, Jonathan|author-link=Jonathan Vankin|author2=John Whalen|year=2004|title=The 80 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time|location=New York|publisher=Citadel Press|isbn=978-0-8065-2531-0}}
* {{cite journal |jstor=1919580 |last1=Wood |first1=Gordon S. |title=Conspiracy and the Paranoid Style: Causality and Deceit in the Eighteenth Century |journal=The William and Mary Quarterly |date=1982 |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=402–441 |doi=10.2307/1919580}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Wiktionary|conspiracy theory}}
{{Commons category|Conspiracy theories}}
* [https://iep.utm.edu/conspira/ Conspiracy Theories], ''[[Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]''

{{Conspiracy theories}}
{{Pseudoscience}}
{{Disinformation}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conspiracy Theory}}
[[Category:Conspiracy theories| ]]
[[Category:Barriers to critical thinking]]
[[Category:Fringe theory]]
[[Category:Disinformation]]
[[Category:Misinformation]]
[[Category:Pejorative terms]]
[[Category:Pseudohistory]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]