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Conspiracy theories are often seen as laughable, and the people who believe them are considered paranoid but usually harmless individuals.

But while many conspiracy theories may indeed be harmless, recent psychological research suggests that some of the social consequences of conspiracy theories deserve more serious attention.

My colleague Daniel Jolley and I found, for example, that people who were exposed to anti-government conspiracy theories were less likely to want to vote than those who had read information refuting conspiracy theories. In a similar study, we found that people who read about climate change conspiracy theories (versus those who read anti-conspiracy material and those who read no material about climate change) expressed less intention to take action to reduce their carbon footprint. In another investigation, we found that reading about anti-vaccine conspiracy theories reduced people’s intentions to vaccinate, compared with those who viewed arguments refuting conspiracy theories, or those who read no material about vaccination.

In each case, conspiracy theories decreased social engagement because they left people feeling powerless, and there is also some evidence that conspiracy theories might influence people without them knowing it.

Some level of healthy skepticism is undoubtedly important for individuals, and citizens cannot be expected to agree with everything they are told. Some conspiracy theories may even be useful in allowing people to question social hierarchies and discover new information for examination and discussion.

But many conspiracy theories seem to be dangerously subversive, undermining people’s confidence in established positions on topics such as climate change and vaccination. They appear to threaten the social systems that people rely upon and encourage inaction where it cannot be afforded. But the question remains: why are conspiracy theories so appealing to so many people?

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