By Hal Brown, MSW
If you want to take a deep dive into QAnon and the long history of similar groups read Part one of the article from Aug. 16 here and part two here: The deep, twisted roots of QAnon: From 1940s sci-fi to 19th-century anti-Masonic agitprop in Salon today.
The article is by Robert Guffey, a lecturer in the Department of English at California State University, Long Beach. His books include the novel "Until the Last Dog Dies" and "Chameleo: A Strange but True Story of Invisible Spies, Heroin Addiction, and Homeland Security."
The conclusion of his 2,033 word article is:
“In the end, one thing is clear when it comes to the creation of QAnon: Someone who was highly familiar with conspiracy-theory folklore figured out how to give these retro spook stories a facelift, specifically warping them to match the paradigm of Donald Trump's America.”
If you want to learn about what kinds of people tend to believe in such theories I am providing a short bibliography. If you want the bare bones summary this is as good a one as any:
"These people tend to be more suspicious, untrusting, eccentric, needing to feel special, with a tendency to regard the world as an inherently dangerous place. They are also more likely to detect meaningful patterns where they might not exist. People who are reluctant to believe in conspiracy theories tend to have the opposite qualities."
From: .Joshua Hart, Molly Graether. Something’s Going on Here: Psychological Predictors of Belief in Conspiracy Theories. Journal of Individual Differences, 2018; DOI: 10.1027/1614-0001/a000268
Abstract. Research on individual-difference factors predicting belief in conspiracy theories has proceeded along several independent lines that converge on a profile of conspiracy believers as individuals who are relatively untrusting, ideologically eccentric, concerned about personal safety, and prone to perceiving agency in actions and profundity in bullshit. The present research represents the first attempt at an integrative approach to testing the independent contributions of these diverse factors to conspiratorial thinking. Two studies (N = 1,253) found that schizotypy, dangerous-world beliefs, and bullshit receptivity independently and additively predict endorsement of generic (i.e., nonpartisan) conspiracy beliefs. Results suggest that “hyperactive” agency detection and political orientation (and related variables) might also play a role. The studies found no effects of situational threats (mortality salience or a sense of powerlessness) – though it remains to be seen whether real-world instantiations of situational threats might move some people to seek refuge in conspiratorial ideation.
My review of the references does not show that a there is a particular psychiatric diagnosis that distinguishes these people from others. The research shows that there are personality types susceptible to believing these theories. Not that it hasn’t been studied, but I didn't find a breakdown as to what percentage might or might not have a psychiatric diagnosis in what I read.
Bibliography of recent articles
Who believes in conspiracy theories and why? Listen to part two of our expert guide — The Conversation (March 2020)
How Many Americans Believe In Conspiracy Theories? -— June, 2020, Forbes
People Drawn to Conspiracy Theories Share a Cluster of Psychological Features — March, 2019, Scientific American
A psychologist explains why people believe conspiracy theories more readily during uncertain times — August 2020, Business Insider
What Makes People Believe in Conspiracy Theories? — April, 2029, Psychology Today
The Reason Why People Believe the Earth is Flat — March, 2029, Men’s Health
Who believes in conspiracies? New research offers a theory — September, 2018, Science Daily
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