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applegrove

(118,007 posts)
Sat Mar 19, 2016, 07:44 PM Mar 2016

Conspiracy theories are for losers: Science explains why conservatives see sneaky cabals in every de

Conspiracy theories are for losers: Science explains why conservatives see sneaky cabals in every defeat

by Paul Rosenberg at Salon

http://www.salon.com/2016/03/19/conspiracy_theories_are_for_losers_science_explains_why_conservatives_see_sneaky_cabals_in_every_defeat/

"SNIP............

Lead co-author Joanne Miller, a political scientist at the University of Minnesota, explained the key concept to Salon. “In a nutshell, motivated reasoning is the notion that people like to maintain the attitudes they have, preserve the attitudes they have, the beliefs they have, protect their identities, especially if their attitudes are wrapped up in their identities,” she said. Political knowledge comes into the picture naturally, as motivated reasoning encounters favorable or unfavorable information, and the role of trust is equally obvious: distrust is the mother’s milk of all conspiracy theories. The idea of viewing conspiracy theories as a form of motivated reasoning isn’t new (see Salon’s 2013 interview with Stephen Lewandowsky, for example) but bringing it into focus in this particular framework—foregrounding ideology, knowledge and trust—is new, and it potentially opens up important new lines of inquiry.

.............

As for the role of trust, “There’s an intuitive hypothesis there,” Miller’s principle co-author, Kyle Saunders of Colorado State University, pointed out. “The less trusting citizens are, the more likely they are to engage in this motivated reasoning process, and therefore more likely to endorse conspiracy theories that impugn their rivals.” There’s a long history of survey data showing declining levels of trust in government and other institutions, and one set of data they drew on—the 2012 American National Election Study (ANES) Time Series survey—asked specifically about trust in government, but they also crafted their own online survey as well, using Amazon.com’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk).

..............

“Much of the research has been psychological, not disorders, but the predispositions that lead some people to be more likely to think in terms of conspiracies,” Miller said. One such factor she cites is “a need for control, but more specifically, a need to restore control. So if you think about the context in which conspiracies are thrown about, they tend to be when unexpected events happen, they’re typically scary, they typically either involve loss of life or threats to life, and there’s a lot of speculation about what the heck happened.” In such situations,”we’re all motivated in a sense to a search for meaning, for understanding of those events, because they’re scary, and because we feel like we’ve lost control, and if only we could understand the event we could gain better control, or feel like we have better control over our environment.”

............

So—at least under current conditions—it’s only conservatives who are more conspiracy-minded if they are more knowledgeable. Liberals act just as Enlightenment theory predicts—the more knowledgeable they are, the freer of parochial viewpoints.

..............SNIP"
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applegrove

(118,007 posts)
1. Interesting that in the GOP, those better informed believe conspiracy theories. Could
Sat Mar 19, 2016, 07:47 PM
Mar 2016

be that they just listen more to the noise machine than those republicans who are less political?

pampango

(24,692 posts)
2. “conservatives will evidence greater motivated conspiracy endorsement than liberals,” which is
Sat Mar 19, 2016, 10:01 PM
Mar 2016

“consistent with the ‘conspiracy theories are for ideologically motivated losers’ argument.”

"It’s a way to feel better about your own worldview, in that it’s the other side that’s doing all this conspiratorial plotting against the greater good.” In this context, adding more knowledge may only make the theories more elaborate, exactly the opposite of the hoped-for impact that more knowledge would have, and that democratic theorists have long assumed.

“The less trusting citizens are, the more likely they are to engage in this motivated reasoning process, and therefore more likely to endorse conspiracy theories that impugn their rivals.”

... the more knowledgeable conservatives/liberals are, the more likely they will be to endorse ideologically consistent CTs,” with a sub-hypothesis that conservatives would do it more, given the “conspiracy theories are for ideologically motivated losers” argument. But this time the main hypothesis was dis-confirmed: “We see it on the conservative side but we don’t see it on the liberal side,”

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
3. Their notions are so far off base it is painful to watch. Alex Babblefish Jones is a great example.
Sat Mar 19, 2016, 10:10 PM
Mar 2016

GOP CTs are like GOP comedians, they are not funny and make no sense.

Something easy to believe; they put fluoride in the water. Though not an actual CT, it is so woven into RWing folklore (along with space Elvis and Bigfoot) that it is a conspiracy that they put fluoride in the water. Everyone else appreciates having strong teeth and bones.

So for the GOP, something that makes common sense is a CT...that is contorting logic into begging for the sweet release of death.

Initech

(99,909 posts)
4. So does this explain why Infowars exists?
Sat Mar 19, 2016, 10:41 PM
Mar 2016

Or why Alex Jones keeps going on and on about things that don't exist like "life extension technology"? Or why people believe that the US, Canada and Mexico are all going to merge into one giant country?

applegrove

(118,007 posts)
6. I posted an article a while ago that said life may be extended to 120
Sat Mar 19, 2016, 11:10 PM
Mar 2016

into the future. I actually cannot remember why. It was from a reputable source. Never seen Alex Jones. I fortunately live in Canada where we do not get the worst of the right wing media.

applegrove

(118,007 posts)
7. The US will never merge with Canada because 1) Canadians are afraid of
Sat Mar 19, 2016, 11:19 PM
Mar 2016

Last edited Tue Mar 22, 2016, 12:46 AM - Edit history (1)

being overwhelmed by Americans. Especially Republicans and their followers. Plus we have it pretty good with a country that has decent social programs and a government that encourages an informed electorate. 2) Republicans are afraid that adding 10% more liberals to the USA would undo all the fine work of their wedge issues and voter suppression.

Initech

(99,909 posts)
8. Yeah I think a couple of wars would be fought over something like this.
Sat Mar 19, 2016, 11:33 PM
Mar 2016

But there are documentaries that exist that are trying to convince people that this could happen. I wish I were making this up.

applegrove

(118,007 posts)
9. Just to terrorize their base and or their viewing and or listening public.
Sat Mar 19, 2016, 11:34 PM
Mar 2016

And they wonder why Trump is so far ahead.

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