Psychology is not an exact science. That may irk a few researchers in the field. But it is important to mention upfront: Researching the psychology of conspiracy theories — why people are drawn to believing them and the effect they have on those people — is a complicated field of research, and conclusions are difficult to derive.
That is due, in part, to one of the basic problems with psychology, whether it's in treatment or in research, and that is that it relies on people's self-awareness.
If we take the example of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, some people continue to maintain it was "inside job," orchestrated by a secretive and powerful club of evil doers in the US government, intent on controlling citizens' lives by fear. And that may be true. But it may also be true that you, as a believer in such a theory, have always felt powerful people — your parents or teachers — have controlled and curtailed your agency in life. You may even have a false memory of how the terrorist attacks evolved on that day in 2001. Then, if someone asked you, "What really happened?", could you really say it for sure? I couldn't.Self-report data are an issue in conspiracy research
Whether as patients or participants in a study, we may be asked to "self-report" — to look inside ourselves and express how we feel and why.
