Essay on conspiracy theories and granting permission
July 2, 2024 12:11 PM Subscribe
I'm trying to remember an essay on conspiracy theories specifically acting as frameworks to allow oneself to act selfishly or against norms, e.g. "why should I have to wear a mask if COVID was released on purpose?" or "if they stole the last election, why shouldn't I get to tamper with ballots?"
I initially remembered the title as "Conspiracy as permission", but searching for it only gives me completely unrelated hits on Google and DDG.
I recall the essay itself identifying the specific rhetorical tells of motivated reasoning, e.g. portraying the desired acts as simply inevitable, or a way to get back at the perceived masterminds of the conspiracy.
The essay in question was not a journal article, but the closest I can find is Miller, Saunders and Farhart's 2015 "Conspiracy Endorsement as Motivated Reasoning" :
> [...] Our work draws from the extant literature to posit that endorsement of conspiracy theories is a motivated process that serves both ideological and psychological needs. In doing so, we develop a theory that identifies a particular type of person—one who is both highly knowledgeable about politics and lacking in trust—who is most susceptible to ideologically motivated conspiracy endorsement.
I initially remembered the title as "Conspiracy as permission", but searching for it only gives me completely unrelated hits on Google and DDG.
I recall the essay itself identifying the specific rhetorical tells of motivated reasoning, e.g. portraying the desired acts as simply inevitable, or a way to get back at the perceived masterminds of the conspiracy.
The essay in question was not a journal article, but the closest I can find is Miller, Saunders and Farhart's 2015 "Conspiracy Endorsement as Motivated Reasoning" :
> [...] Our work draws from the extant literature to posit that endorsement of conspiracy theories is a motivated process that serves both ideological and psychological needs. In doing so, we develop a theory that identifies a particular type of person—one who is both highly knowledgeable about politics and lacking in trust—who is most susceptible to ideologically motivated conspiracy endorsement.
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