As the research on conspiracy theorists continues, previous research has shown that people with narcissistic personalities are more likely to form conspiracy theories. But this research why narcissists tend to form conspiracy theories hadn’t mentioned it.

A new study has provided an answer to this problem. Exploring Narcissists’ Predisposition to Form Conspiracy Theories gave four reasons and attributed them to the three components that lead to narcissism. Accordingly, these individuals produced conspiracy theories because of their feelings of paranoia, their naivety towards claims of what is not true, and their need to dominate and be unique.

How do these four reasons lead to conspiracy theories?

The four reasons listed above corresponded to the three components associated with narcissism. These three components extraversion (attempt to strengthen the ego and gain admiration through charm and daydreaming), antagonism (being arrogant, exploitative and entitled) and neuroticism (experiencing low self-esteem and shame).

How the four reasons listed by the researchers drive narcissists to produce conspiracy theories was shared as follows:

• Paranoia: The tendency of narcissists to believe that other people exist to take over and intentionally try to harm them.
• The need for dominance and control: Narcissists use another group as a scapegoat for something wrong and may find conspiracy theories plausible as a way to shift blame.
• The need to be unique: Narcissists promise access to “privileged” and “secret” documents that are not publicly available through conspiracy theories, and this makes those they believe more private.
• Purity: It makes any person more susceptible to unreliable and manipulative information.

Disturbing detail from researchers: Politicians are more likely to be narcissistic:

The team behind the study also added an interesting explanation. According to researchers politicians have a greater tendency to be narcissistic. This means that governments run the risk of becoming more susceptible to conspiracy theories.