UMD Psychology Researcher’s New Book Explains Why People Turn to Conspiracy Theories

We’re all driven to find meaning in life, but for some, this subconscious desire pulls them into conspiracy theories and dangerous belief systems, a University of Maryland psychologist and co-author write in a new book out this month.

After an extensive review of psychological research, Distinguished University Professor Arie Kruglanski and journalist Dan Raviv, who worked for CBS News for 40 years, show how people's need for “significance” propels our actions, governs our feelings and dominates our thoughts in "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round," published by Taylor & Francis.

"Experts on human motivation contend that all people share the same set of basic needs, and everything people do, try to attain or avoid is in the service of satisfying one or more of those basic needs," they write. "The need for significance and mattering is one such preeminent basic need that all people have."

Drawing on both peer-reviewed research and the personal experiences of the authors, including Kruglanski's childhood in Poland during the Holocaust, the authors explore how this need can motivate people toward harmful and even violent acts—including believing conspiracy theories. They also suggest that self-awareness is key to how people can avoid becoming susceptible.

The authors spotlight factors that make modern society "fraught with uncertainty," from financial chaos to the Ukraine war, the rise of authoritarians, and global health crises.

"But it is not the uncertainty alone that has been so troubling to so many," they write. "It is a loss of significance that the uncertainty connotes."

For some people, uncertainty suggests that worst-case scenarios are possible or even likely—for example that financial instability will leave them homeless, or increased numbers of immigrants will mean no resources left for themselves.

“The loss of significance that people around the globe have been experiencing makes them vulnerable to a particular brand of narratives; ones that acknowledge their fears and anxieties and blame some agent or entity for nefarious plots and actions aimed at humiliating and diminishing them,” Kruglanski and Raviv write, adding that many such narratives identify an evil enemy that must be aggressively thwarted.

The authors include examples such as the popular conspiracy theory by David Icke that an interdimensional race of reptilians has assumed human form and is plotting to take over the world.

“From a psychological perspective, the real question is what do these theories offer Icke’s audiences that motivates them to take the claims seriously? In fact, they offer quite a lot. First, to be privy to a truth so scandalous and shocking makes a person feel very special, one of a select few ‘in the know,’” they write.

The science of psychology reveals that people’s judgments and beliefs are strongly guided by their motivations, and because conspiracy narratives make people feel significant and special and often offer hope for a better future, they tend to be taken seriously by “significance-deprived” audiences. Particularly when people’s sense of significance is diminished by negative life circumstances, they are susceptible to narratives that offer to raise their dignity and sense of mattering.

The authors suggest the biggest threat to society is that “self-knowledge is typically in short supply,” and they urge people to understand their own drives for meaning, to better understand what motivates them or what damages their sense of significance.

People should also strive to engage with family, work colleagues and peers, Kruglanski and Raviv say, because it’s often easy to reinforce others’ sense of significance, and then benefit from respect and significance given in return.

Working to learn what makes us and others tick—whether it’s money, love, values or some other ambition—can be a shield against harmful quests for significance, they write.

“If you can somehow quantify how important significance is to you, how strongly you react to challenges to your dignity, how badly you feel when ‘put down’ by others, and what arouses your envy, empathy or admiration, then you might identify guidelines for navigating your life more successfully,” they explain.

This article is based on a press release from the publisher Taylor & Francis.