Some research suggests that people with Manichean worldviews who see the world as more black-and-white are more likely to support conspiracy theories. Other factors that indicate a tendency toward conspiracism include preferences for strict hierarchies, holding a dark view of human nature and higher distrust of other people, and viewing the world as a jungle where “the strong dominate the weak.” Conspiracy theory believers often display obsessions with the sufferings of their own identity group—their religion, their race, their country—at the hands of sinister outside groups.
