In my previous post, we discussed how people who favor intuition over analytic reasoning are more likely to engage in conspiracy thinking, and how Mormon culture similarly favors intuition as the fundamental method of discerning truth—with analytic reason playing a supporting role. In this post, we will examine the availability heuristic. The more frequently and/or …
In my previous post, we discussed how people with a strong desire to avoid ambiguity often engage in conspiracy thinking so that they can achieve “cognitive closure.” Then we showed how Mormon worship is structured to regularly provide cognitive closure, and, therefore, how it can exacerbate conspiracy thinking. Another aspect of conspiracy thinking that Mormonism …
As I showed in my previous post, one factor that strongly correlates with conspiracy thinking is a stronger-than-average desire to avoid ambiguity. And for Mormons, the avoidance of ambiguity is baked into worship. For example, imagine you are attending a Fast and Testimony meeting in an LDS ward. The priests and deacons have just returned …
I am a nut for conspiracy theories. They are entertaining, often disturbing, but always fascinating. What makes conspiracy theories so captivating? Why do some communities seem especially drawn to them? Over the past few years, I have put my training as a researcher in the behavioral sciences to work answering this question. I’ve come to …
