Study proves Conspiracy brehs are just dumb

[Lexington Steele]

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www.sciencedirect.com

The proliferation of conspiracy theories has coincided with advancement in communication technologies. Research has consistently identified the social determinants of conspiracy beliefs, such as social media exposure and peer influence, the impact of cognitive abilities, especially executive function (EF), remains unexplored. This study aimed to explore whether conspiracy beliefs varied with different EF profiles. A sample of 194 participants (M = 35.56; SD = 10.01) completed a questionnaire covering beliefs in six common conspiracy theories and tasks assessing working memory (N-Back), cognitive flexibility (Modified Card Sorting Task), and affective decision-making (Iowa Gambling Task). Latent profile analysis on the cognitive tests identified three distinct EF profiles: Low Cool EF, Moderate Cool EF, and High EF. Notably, the Low Cool EF cohort displayed significantly stronger beliefs in five of the six conspiracy theories than the High EF profile. The Moderate Cool EF profile also showed significantly stronger beliefs in conspiracies relating to personal wellbeing, and Covid-19 compared to the High EF profile. Executive functioning plays a pivotal role in shaping an individual's inclination towards or resistance against conspiracy beliefs. Enhanced cognitive flexibility and working memory enables individuals to critically assess information rather than rigidly subscribing to a singular viewpoint, likely fostering resistance to conspiratorial thinking.

Have low executive functioning, brehs.

 

[Negro Caesar]

I believe it. most the people I see posting conspiracy theories are people I went to high school with. I know they were really stupid people

 

[ALMIGHTY GOD]

I believe it. most the people I see posting conspiracy theories are people I went to high school with. I know they were really stupid people

same shyt with me LOLOLOL just dumb and wrong, also alot of them have beards with selfies in their cars too.

 

[Jaguar93]

When you hear this you know what’s up.

 

[karim]

same shyt with me LOLOLOL just dumb and wrong, also alot of them have beards with selfies in their cars too.

 

[MischievousMonkey]

They're not just dumb. The article itself acknowledges research showing that there are several factors that determine individuals' propensity to believe in conspiracy theories.

Douglas et al. (2019) identified three primary motives driving individuals towards conspiracy beliefs. First are epistemic motives, where individuals turn to conspiracy theories to understand complex or seemingly random events of phenomena. Supportively, studies have found that individuals with higher education, potentially due to enhanced critical thinking abilities, are less likely to believe in conspiracy theories (Goreis & Voracek, 2019). Second are existential motives, where individuals resort to conspiracy theories to regain a sense of control when feeling vulnerable or uncertain about particular events or phenomena. Research corroborates this, showing a correlation between heightened anxiety and conspiratorial thinking (Liekefett et al., 2023). Third are social motives, emerging from the need to belong and accepted an individual may be inclined to join online conspiracy communities. Several social factors, such as feeling ostracised from others (Biddlestone et al., 2021), unemployment (Goreis & Voracek, 2019), and extensive social media use (Romer & Jamieson, 2021), have been linked to increased conspiracy beliefs.

 

[Richard Glidewell]