Too special to be duped: need for uniqueness motivates conspiracy beliefs
Abstract
Abstract Adding to the growing literature on the antecedents of conspiracy beliefs, this paper argues that a small part in motivating the endorsement of such seemingly irrational beliefs is the desire to stick out from the crowd, the need for uniqueness. Across three studies, we establish a modest but robust association between the self‐attributed need for uniqueness and a general conspirational mindset (conspiracy mentality) as well as the endorsement of specific conspiracy beliefs. Following up on previous findings that people high in need for uniqueness resist majority and yield to minority influence, Study 3 experimentally shows that a fictitious conspiracy theory received more support by people high in conspiracy mentality when this theory was said to be supported by only a minority (vs. majority) of survey respondents. Together, these findings support the notion that conspiracy beliefs can be adopted as a means to attain a sense of uniqueness.
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Conspiracy beliefs are higher when people want to feel good about themselves and the groups they belong to.
“conspiracy beliefs are higher when people want to (1) feel good about themselves and the groups they belong to [31,32,21]”
From The dark side of social movements: social identity, non-conformity, and the lure of conspiracy theories (2020) · cites this paper as [31]
Participants with high uniqueness needs were only more likely to believe in a novel conspiracy theory if it was supported by a minority of people.
“participants with high (vs.low) uniqueness needs were only more likely to believe in a novel conspiracy theory if it was supported by a minority (vs.majority) of people [31].”
From The dark side of social movements: social identity, non-conformity, and the lure of conspiracy theories (2020) · cites this paper as [31]
Stronger uniqueness needs are linked to stronger conspiracy theory beliefs.
“studies found that stronger uniqueness needs were linked to stronger conspiracy theory beliefs [31,32,36].”
From The dark side of social movements: social identity, non-conformity, and the lure of conspiracy theories (2020) · cites this paper as [31]
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“Accordingly, a more pronounced conspiracy mentality relates to higher need for uniqueness (Imhoff & Lamberty, 2017; Lantian, Muller, Nurra, &Douglas, 2017) aswell as to non-normative behaviour both in terms of political engagement (Imhoff, Dieterle, & Lamberty, 2021) and health-related issues.”
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“One aspect of conspiracy beliefs is that they offer alternative explanations to the majority opinion and attract people with high need for uniqueness who agree less with majorities (Imhoff & Erb, 2009; Imhoff & Lamberty, 2017).”
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“2 This in some ways parallels the need for uniqueness found in conspiracy belief (Imhoff and Lamberty 2017). fascination for one of them.”
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“…scientists have purposefully focused their research of conspiracy theories on the positive elements (both epistemic and moral) of belief in conspiracy theories (e.g. see Swami, Chamorro-Premuzic, and Furnham 2010; van Prooijen 2022; Imhoff and Lamberty 2017; Miller, Saunders, and Farhart 2016).”
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“’ As such, narcissistic individuals may adopt conspiracy theories as a means of ‘standing out from the crowd’ and be perceived as unique, superior, important, and intelligent (Cichocka et al., 2016; Imhoff and Lamberty, 2017).”
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On the relationship between age and conspiracy beliefs
Bordeleau, J.-N., & Stockemer, D. (2024) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.13044 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“According to Imhoff and Lamberty (2017), young adults sometimes want to be unique, and do not want to conform to mainstream frames.”
Stall, L. M., & Petrocelli, J. V. (2022) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.3998 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Pummerer, L., Ditrich, L., Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (2022) · Social Psychology and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/19485506221144150 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“First, research has repeatedly demonstrated that stronger conspiracy belief is connected to a higher need for uniqueness (Imhoff & Lamberty, 2017; Lantian et al., 2017), which undermines the influence of the majority (Imhoff & Erb, 2009).”
On the Usefulness of the Conspiracy Mentality Concept
Imhoff, R. (2024) · Zeitschrift für Psychologie · doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000550 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Cults, Conspiracies, and Fantasies of Knowledge
Munro, D. (2023) · Episteme · doi:10.1017/epi.2022.55 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
“2019), along with desires to feel unique or special by possessing secret knowledge (Imhoff and Lamberty 2017; Douglas and Sutton 2018; Sternisko et al .”
BackgroundConspiracy believers claim to be free thinkers but (Under)Use advice like everyone else.
Altay, S., Nera, K., Ejaz, W., Schöpfer, C., & Tomas, F. (2023) · British Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjso.12655 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Sternisko, A., Cichocka, A. K., & Bavel, J. J. V. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/wvqes · Cited by 18 · see citing works
“Recent reviews [30,8**] distilled three main motivators behind conspiracy theory beliefs: conspiracy beliefs are higher when people want to (1) feel good about themselves and the groups they belong to [31,32, 21], (2) make sense of their environment [33–35], or (3) feel safe and in control [36–38].”
BackgroundDyrendal, A., & Hestad, K. (2021) · Approaching Religion · doi:10.30664/ar.107485 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Hetzel, N., Klawier, T., Prochazka, F., & Schweiger, W. (2022) · Studies in Communication and Media · doi:10.5771/2192-4007-2022-4-508 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Pennycook, G., Binnendyk, J., & Rand, D. G. (2022) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/d5fz2 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
The role of cognitive biases in shaping irrational beliefs: a multi-Study Investigation
Teovanović, P., Purić, D., Živanović, M. M., Lukić, P., Branković, M., Stanković, S., Knežević, G., Lazarević, B., & Žeželj, I. (2024) · Thinking & Reasoning · doi:10.1080/13546783.2024.2421367 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
“…be that the belief that one possesses special knowledge unavailable to the mainstream population partially motivates conspiracist, pseudoscientific, and some paranormal beliefs, such as extrasensory perception beliefs, but not superstitious beliefs (Barlev & Neuberg, 2022; Imhoff & Lamberty, 2017).”
[Conspiracy narratives in the context of the coronavirus pandemic].
Lamberty, P., & Imhoff, R. (2021) · PubMed Central · doi:10.1007/s00278-021-00498-2 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Deprived, Radical, Alternatively Informed
Ziegele, M., Resing, M., Frehmann, K., Jackob, N., Jakobs, I., Quiring, O., Schemer, C., Schultz, T., & Viehmann, C. (2022) · European Journal of Health Communication · doi:10.47368/ejhc.2022.205 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Also, conspiracy theorists desire to be unique and to stand out from the crowd (Imhoff & Lamberty, 2017).”
BackgroundAlbath, E. A., Greifeneder, R., Douglas, K. M., Cichocka, A. K., Marques, M. D., Wilson, M., Kerr, J. R., Sibley, C. G., & Osborne, D. (2024) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672241292841 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“…Sutton, 2023) and include psychological motivations (Douglas et al., 2017), personality characteristics (e.g., maladaptive personality facets; Stasielowicz, 2022; Swami et al., 2016), and relatively stable individual needs (e.g., need for uniqueness; Imhoff & Lamberty, 2017; Lantian et al., 2017).”
Lalot, F., Cantarella, M., Zerhouni, O., Joly-Burra, E., Quiamzade, A., Falomir‐Pichastor, J. M., Desrichard, O., & Bègue, L. (2017) · Journal of Personality Assessment · doi:10.1080/00223891.2017.1394867 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“The loadings are reported in Appendix C alongside those obtained by Imhoff and Erb (2009) in German and Imhoff and Lamberty (2017) in English for comparison purposes.”
MethodDunning–Kruger effect and flat-earthers: An exploratory analysis
Barrigüete, J. L. A., Núñez-Mera, C. B., Fernández, J. L., & Nicolás, V. L. D. (2023) · Public Understanding of Science · doi:10.1177/09636625231166255 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“I Know Things They Don’t Know!” The Role of Need for Uniqueness in Belief in Conspiracy TheoriesPreprint
Lantian, A., Dominique Muller, B., Nurra, C., & Douglas, K. M. (2017) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/zm9a6 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Théories du complot et COVID-19 : comment naissent les croyances complotistes ?
Bottemanne, H. (2022) · L'Encephale · doi:10.1016/j.encep.2021.12.005 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“Plusieurs hypothèses suggèrent que générer des croyances complotistes peut donner la sensation de détenir une vérité qui échappe aux autres, de comprendre mieux les phénomènes du monde, et ainsi d’augmenter le sentiment d’être un être spécial [89,90].”
Lamberty, P. (2022) · Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz · doi:10.1007/s00103-022-03524-z · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“So hat sich beispielsweise gezeigt, dass ein starkes Bedürfnis nach Einzigartigkeit mit einem gesteigerten Verschwörungsglauben einhergeht [13].”
BackgroundPennycook, G., Binnendyk, J., & Rand, D. G. (2025) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672251338358 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“This is different from having a need for uniqueness (Imhoff & Lamberty, 2017) or from being narcissistic (Cichocka et al., 2022), which relate to one’s desire or motivation to be seen positively.”
InfluentialStojanov, A., Bering, J. M., & Halberstadt, J. B. (2021) · Psihologija · doi:10.2298/psi201115009s · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“These include the need for uniqueness (Imhoff & Lamberty, 2017; Lantian et al., 2017), the need to see the world as ordered and structured (Whitson & Galinsky, 2008), and, in particular, the need for personal control (van Prooijen & Acker, 2015).”
BackgroundValidation of the Spanish Version of the Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale
Fasce, A., Avendaño, D., Dagnall, N., Denovan, A., & Escolà‐Gascón, Á. (2022) · The Spanish Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1017/sjp.2022.21 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Imhoff, R., Dieterle, L., & Lamberty, P. (2019) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/v4pb9 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Exceptionalism at the Time of covid-19: Where Nationalism Meets Irrationality
Bortolotti, L., & Murphy‐Hollies, K. (2022) · Danish Yearbook of Philosophy · doi:10.1163/24689300-bja10025 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
When alienated from society, conspiracy theory belief gives meaning to life
Schnell, T., Viviani, R., Lenz, C., & Krampe, H. (2024) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e34557 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“The resulting sense of uniqueness [29] can in turn reinforce the feeling of personal significance.”
Toward a Cultural Psychology of Conspiracy Theories: A life-narrative analysis of Flat Earthers
Pahuus, K., Jørgensen, M. S., & Wagoner, B. (2024) · Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science · doi:10.1007/s12124-024-09857-5 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
The effect of scientific conspiracy theories on scepticism towards biotechnologies
Marques, M. D., Kerr, J. R., Stukas, A. A., & McLennan, J. (2024) · Public Understanding of Science · doi:10.1177/09636625241300896 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“A final point is that while we debriefed participants, it is critical for researchers to ensure these practices, given the narrow chance that studies may alter public misunderstanding following experimental manipulations involving made-up conspir-acy theories (Imhoff and Lamberty, 2017).”
Belief in Science‐Related Conspiracy Theories
Littrell, S., Diekman, A. B., Seelig, M. I., Premaratne, K., Wuchty, S., Verdear, D., Klofstad, C., & Uscinski, J. E. (2025) · Journal of Social Issues · doi:10.1111/josi.70004 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Verschwörungsmentalität und Antisemitismus
Imhoff, R. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-658-31701-0_4 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Furnham, A. F., & Horne, G. (2022) · Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology · doi:10.5093/jwop2022a2 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“There has been a great increase of studies on CTs (Barron et al., 2014; Brotherton & French, 2014; Douglas et al., 2016; Imhoff & Lamberty, 2017; van Prooijen et al., 2015).”
BackgroundPoier, S., & Suchanek, M. (2024) · Journal of public health · doi:10.1007/s10389-024-02210-5 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“This is expressed through the need for uniqueness, i.e., the desire to be different, independent, and non-conformist (Lantian et al. 2017; Imhoff and Lamberty 2017).”
Bertin, P., Ionescu, O., Green, R., Abts, K., Rogenhofer, J. M., Delouvée, S., Yzerbyt, V. Y., & Klein, O. (2024) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.3093 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
- Authors
- Imhoff, R., & Lamberty, P. K.
- Affiliations
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Imhoff, Roland
- Venue
- European Journal of Social Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2017-05-23
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 724-734
- ISSN
- 0046-2772 (ISSN-L)
- 1099-0992
- OpenAlex
- W2618743929
- Cited by
- 260
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 45 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 48 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 5
- FWCI
- 31.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- European Journal of Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Misinformation and Its Impacts
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
- Keywords
- conspiracy beliefs, need for uniqueness, minority influence, majority influence, social identity, belief endorsement, irrational beliefs
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