Do Conspiracy Theorists Change Their Minds?

Conspiracy theorists are those who propose or believe in a conspiracy theory. Despite many questioning their beliefs, they are committed to what they believe in, but surprisingly, they could reportedly change their minds, too.

Do Conspiracy Theorists Change Their Minds?

Many conspiracy theories lack evidence but still attract believers, which puzzles researchers in psychology. In a bid to explain this, researchers initiated a study and recruited nearly 500 Australians and New Zealanders and had them answer a longitudinal survey.

The researchers presented a survey, including ten conspiracy theories, and asked the sample how much they believed them. The conspiracy theories were regarding events that have either happened this millennium or are still in progress, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the introduction of 5G telecommunications technology, and the September 11 attacks.

A small percentage of participants were believers, and the majority expressed disagreement with all of the hypotheses.

The most widely accepted theory held that "big pharma (pharmaceutical companies) suppressed a cancer cure to protect their profits." When questioned initially, about 18% of the sample group said they agreed. The least accepted was that COVID-19 vaccines contain microchips to monitor and control people, with only 2% agreeing.

They tracked the sample for six months and noticed their dispositions about the subjects had changed.

Throughout our survey, most respondents continued to be dubious of conspiracy theories. They discovered that conspiracy theory beliefs were not entirely fixed but remained constant. Most participants were "consistent skeptics," meaning they never agreed with any particular idea.

Additionally, several "consistent believers" indicated that they agreed with every response they gave on the poll. This was the second-largest group for the majority of theories.

However, there was a tiny percentage of believers for each conspiracy hypothesis. At the beginning of the study, they didn't agree with the idea, but by the conclusion, they did. Additionally, a tiny percentage of "apostates" initially agreed with the thesis but then changed their minds.

However, the percentage of believers remained relatively constant over time as the percentages of converts and apostates tended to balance each other out rather closely.

People do, however, occasionally choose to disbelieve conspiracy ideas in which they had previously believed.

ALSO READ: 3 Outrageous Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy Theories About COVID

There are various conspiracy theories about different issues, including COVID-19. Here are two of the most popular COVID-19 conspiracy theories involving China and the United States.

COVID was created as a biological weapon

According to Pew Research, almost three out of 10 Americans think that COVID-19 was created in a lab, either intentionally or accidentally. The former is more commonly acknowledged, though. Just 6% of respondents believe it happened accidentally, compared to 23% who believe it was made intentionally. A particularly pervasive myth on the political right in America is that Chinese people somehow created the virus. Sen. Tom Cotton contributed to its enormous publicity by endorsing allegations initially published in the Washington Examiner.

Genetic sequencing, however, revealed that the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated naturally as a zoonotic virus that first infected bats. The Examiner acknowledged that the story is probably false and revised the original article to reflect this.

COVID was imported to China

The Chinese government created a conspiracy theory of its own in response to anti-Chinese conspiracy theories, which attempts to re-assign all responsibility to the United States. Zhao Lijian, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman on X, the former Twitter, was the one who first spread this theory.

He claimed that it could be the U.S. army who brought the virus to Wuhan. He even dared to ask the U.S. to be transparent and show the public their data because they owe the world an explanation.

Zhao's comments came the day after U.S. national security adviser Robert O'Brien claimed China was aware of the virus weeks before reporting it; hence, it "cost the world community two months" and contributed to the pandemic's increased spread.

RELATED ARTICLE: Conspiracy Theories, Rumors, and Fake News Killed More than 800 People During the Pandemic, Study

Check out more news and information on Conspiracy Theories in Science Times.