Delray Beach life coach Rochelle Strauss – you may know her as Coach Red – has been getting a lot of questions about conspiracy theories recently. Parents are asking, “How can I protect my kids from conspiracy theories?” Some families want to know how to talk to a loved one who believes in a conspiracy.
Maybe you, like so many others, simply want to know why people buy into conspiracy theories.
The History of Conspiracy Theories
The interest in conspiracy theories – and those who believe in them – is not at all surprising given the events of recent weeks, but it is also nothing new.
Conspiracy theories have been luring people in since at least the time of the Roman Emperor Nero (He gained control in 54 C.E.). He’s the one who is said to have ‘fiddled while Rome burned’ by those who believed he intentionally set the fire so that he could rebuild the city more to his liking. One little problem, as Mental Floss points out in their engaging look at historical conspiracy theories, the fiddle had not been invented at the time.
Karen Douglas, PhD, a professor of social psychology at the University of Kent in the United Kingdom who specializes in conspiracy theories and their consequences, believes that times of crisis and social upheaval tend to breed conspiracy theories. “It is definitely the case that the conspiracy theories have always been with us,” she said in an episode of the American Psychological Association’s podcast, Speaking of Psychology.
Why Do People Believe in Conspiracy Theories?
Do you find it hard to understand how people can possibly believe in conspiracy theories like QAnon? You are not alone.
But Douglas says there are underlying reasons why conspiracies appeal to certain people. “Some psychological evidence suggests that people are drawn to conspiracy theories when they do feel uncertain either in specific situations or more generally,” she told podcast host Kim Mills.
“People with lower levels of education tend to be drawn to conspiracy theories. And we don’t argue that’s because people are not intelligent,” Douglas adds. “It’s simply that they haven’t been allowed to have or haven’t been given access to the tools to allow them to differentiate between good sources and bad sources or credible sources and non-credible sources. So, they’re looking for that knowledge and certainty, but not necessarily looking in the right places.”
We have barely scratched the surface of this very complicated topic. If you would like more information, Speaking of Psychology: Why People Believe in Conspiracy Theories is a great place to start.
And, if you would like more information on how to help your teenagers sort through the conspiracy theories in the news or how to protect younger kids from whatever conspiracy theories may evolve in the future, contact Boca Raton parenting and life coach Rochelle Strauss.