Today I Learned

The new science of the psychology of conspiracy theories has discovered the three motivations that lead people to believe in conspiracy theories — epistemic, existential and social motivations. The epistemic motivations refer to the discomfort with uncertainty and conflicting information. The existential is the motivation to deal with feelings of anxiety and powerlessness and the social is to do with feeling good about self or the in-group. These are the three categories of motivations that have been found in the psychology of conspiracy theories. __________________ Music Used: 1. Magnetic - Music 3. End of the Era – Kevin MacLeod Subscribe to Music Subscribe to Kevin MacLeod __________________ Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 0:29 1. Epistemic Motivations 2:22 2. Existential Motivations 5:12 3. Social Motivations 7:57 Conclusion __________________ References: Primary Paper: Douglas, K.M., Sutton, R.M. and Cichock