Dutch study finds minorities are more prone to belief in conspiracies

By Alex Fradera Psychologists have already established that minority groups are particularly likely to endorse conspiracy theories that involve them. For instance, the idea that AIDS was concocted in a lab to plague black people or that birth control is black genocide have been shown to have particular traction within African-American communities. It’s thought this is because members of disadvantaged groups find comfort in explanatory frameworks that appear to account for the various factors that beleaguer them. But new research from VU Amsterdam and published in Applied Cognitive Psychology suggests that belonging to a minority identity, in this case being Muslim in the Netherlands or a member of an ethnic minority in that country, doesn’t merely lead to a belief in conspiracy theories related to that specific minority identity, but stokes an appetite for conspiracies in general.  Jan-Willem van Prooijen and his colleagues explain that there seem to be two reasons why minorities are drawn to conspiracies. First is the unpleasant feeling of not being personally regarded as a full member of society. This motivates people to make sense of their situation, but from a position of discomfort and negative emotion that breeds a suspicious attitude – a perfect pot in which to brew conspiracy. The second is a broader concern about the treatment of their minority group, which explains why, in the US, research has found that affluent African Americans with greater access to pa...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Race Religion Social Source Type: blogs