The emotional roots of conspiratorial perceptions, system justification, and belief in the paranormal

As some of you may have gathered, I have some unusual interests.  In regards to people, on one end of the spectrum, there are individuals like Alex Jone; as a contrast, Steven L.Anderson comes too mind.  In the "events" or "things happening in the world  category", the so-called Truthers come to mind.  But yet the Sovereign Citizen Movement fascinates me.  For beliefs we have anything with a cultic group think, like Patriarchy and Quiverfull; but yet, at the other end are people who seem to think the Genesis 6 giants are real and still among us.

In essence, I am fascinated by what motivates people to buy into crazy worldviews. Is it a means of compensation for feeling powerless?  Is it a measure of self-worth, a meaning or purpose for life?  And one I didn't consider prior to reading the attached study, the need for order, or "structure".

So the Whitson et al. study shows,

This research has several important implications. First and foremost, our studies establish that external or world uncertainty can have the same effects as lacking control. This is critical to test and establish because uncertainty and lacking control are conceptually distinct and may, as a result, produce different effects. This research establishes that uncertainty and lacking control represent one broad construct that incites the need for structure. Furthermore, by using emotions which differ on uncertainty and valence, we are able to provide the first evidence that uncertainty alone is enough to drive compensatory control strategies, regardless of valence. Lastly, these experiments extend the literature on appraisal tendencies of emotions by establishing that emotions characterized by uncertainty appraisals don't simply lead to systematic processing. Rather, they lead to structure seeking.

What Whitson et al are saying, emotional uncertainty creates a need to compensate. Uncertainty in an emotional state – regardless of whether it is positive or negative – leads to a desire for structure and a sense of control.  So, in our attempt to achieve a sense of certainty, to make sense of things, a conspiratorial mind think or a harsh, punitive religions (like Patriarchy and Quiverfull) can become attached.

In other words, there is comfort in the conspiracy theory.  Seeing real or illusory patterns, provides an explanation for why things are the way they are. There is comfort in overbearing religious dogma or a tyrannical government, as both purport how things ought to be.  Mapping out our fates and providing predictable structure in our ever changing world.  As the authors put it,

“Whether one finds comfort in a strong government, astrological predictions, or vast conspiracies , all are responses potentially driven by the uncertain.”

Even without evidence, people faced with uncertainty or fear will gravitate move toward something that makes sense of things -- even if that something is harmful or makes no rational sense

The emotional roots of conspiratorial perceptions, system justification, and belief in the paranormal