A study by Cornell University showed that individuals who believe in extreme conspiracy theories, such as the flat Earth theory or that vaccines are part of a government plot, tend to be significantly overconfident. Analyzing eight studies with 4,181 participants, researchers found that believers generally overestimate their cognitive abilities and wrongly assume that others support their views. The findings suggest that this overconfidence may explain why it is difficult to change the minds of conspiracy theorists, as they perceive a wider consensus with their beliefs than actually exists.
The analysis revealed that while only 12% of participants believed in conspiracy theories, those who did assumed that 90% of others shared their views.
The research indicates that the strong link between overconfidence and belief in conspiracy theories could explain why efforts to change minds are often futile.
Collection
[
|
...
]