Psychology of conspiracy

Conspiracy is the act of two or more persons, called conspirators, working secretly to obtain some goal, usually understood with negative connotations. A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public. There are many different conspiracy theories. Although they are easy to disprove, millions continue to believe them.

There are three types of conspiracy theories. One of them is event conspiracy theory. The conspiracy is decisive for a limited, discrete event or set of events. Another type is systemic conspiracy theory. The conspiracy is believed to be universal, usually perceived as security control of a country, a region, or even the entire world. The third type of conspiracy theories is Super conspiracy theory. This term refers to conspiratorial constructs in which multiple conspiracies are believed to be linked together hierarchically.

There are many different categories of conspiracy theories. For example, Global conspiracies include those broad reaching conspiracies such as the US Federal Reserve, the NATO, the United States and the House of Saud, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Gemstone File. Also, there are a number of conspiracy theories that have developed with regards to extraterrestrial life and UFOs. UFO/Extraterrestrial conspiracies include the Bermuda Triangle, Roswell, Area 51 and Crop Circles. Intelligence conspiracies include the CIA running heroin in Vietnam, landing on the moon, Watergate, Pan Am Flight 103 and the Branch Davidian compound in Waco. Medical conspiracies include the cure for cancer, fluoridation, AIDS, Ritalin and SARS. Military conspiracies include the attack on Pearl Harbor, Gulf War Syndrome and the fate of united flight 93. Furthermore, there are a lot of theories to explain why and how an important person was killed.

Conspiracy theories abound all across the world and psychologists try to understand why people believe in conspiracy theories. To my mind there are several reasons why people believe in them. Firstly, people think that a major or significant event must have been caused by something similarly major, significant or powerful. Furthermore, according to psychologists, people who believe in one conspiracy theory are more likely to believe in others. Also, psychologists say that the more a person believes in conspiracy theories, the more likely he is used to distrust the reported facts. Conspiracies sometimes do happen and the fact that unbelievable happens sometimes helps fuel theories that at first glance are no more preposterous.

All in all, there are many different conspiracy theories which are of different types and categories. Psychologists are trying to understand the common factors that predispose people to believe in conspiracy theories. It does not mean that belief in a conspiracy theory is false. The theory itself could be true.

References:
http://www.searchdictionaries.com/?q=conspiracy
http://darkeconteur.wordpress.com/tag/conspiracies/
http://quezi.com/14855
http://voices.yahoo.com/six-categories-conspiracy-theories-2352374.html?cat=9