April 20, 2011
OF COURSE, THE DUPES WHO BELIEVE IN THEM...:
Belief in Conspiracies Linked to Machiavellian Mindset: New research suggests people are more likely to endorse conspiracy theories if they would be willing to personally participate in such a conspiracy. (Tom Jacobs, 4/19/11, Miller McCune)
Know any conspiracy theorists? No doubt they’ve tried to convince you that man didn’t really land on the moon or President Obama was born in Kenya.In fact, they were imparting genuinely interesting information — about themselves. New research suggests belief in such theories may reveal a Machiavellian mindset.
“At least among some samples and for some conspiracy theories, the perception that ‘they did it’ is fueled by the perception that ‘I would do it,’” University of Kent psychologists Karen Douglas and Robbie Sutton write in the British Journal of Social Psychology.
“These studies suggest that people who have more lax personal morality may endorse conspiracy theories to a greater extent because they are, on average, more willing to participate in the conspiracies themselves.”
...are hardly the sort we'd have in our secret society.
Posted by oj at April 20, 2011 5:49 AM
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