As a reaction to feeling like someone else has the upper hand, spite may be a driver in conspiracy beliefs. (Oleg Golovnev/Shutterstock)
In a nutshell
- Spite, a desire to level the playing field at personal cost, appears to drive conspiracy beliefs when people feel disadvantaged compared to experts or authorities
- Rather than simply being misinformed, conspiracy theorists may be responding to perceived competitive disadvantages in a psychologically meaningful way
- Addressing conspiracy theories effectively requires more than just providing accurate information; it means tackling underlying feelings of disadvantage, powerlessness, and inequality
STOKE-ON-TRENT, England — The next time you encounter someone who firmly believes the moon landing was faked or climate change is a hoax, consider this: their stance might be driven less by ignorance and more by spite. Recent research from British universities suggests that conspiracy theories often serve as psychological equalizers, ways for people who feel disadvantaged to symbolically challenge those in power, even at their own expense.
The Spite Connection
Researchers from Staffordshire University and the University of Birmingham suggest that conspiracy theories aren’t just the result of misinformation. The study, published in the Journal of Social Issues, suggests that some people believe in conspiracy theories out of spite that emerges when people feel disadvantaged or threatened.
“Spiteful psychological motives tend to emerge when people feel at a competitive disadvantage, often when we feel uncertain, threatened or undervalued,” explains lead researcher David Gordon from Staffordshire University, in a statement. “Spite is the desire to ‘level the playing field’ by trying to knock someone else down because it feels like there is no other choice. Conspiracy theories can serve as a way for individuals to satisfy this desire through rejecting expert opinion and scientific consensus.”
Spite is behavior that harms both the person being spiteful and their target but changes the competitive balance between them. While it seems counterproductive, spite has historically played a role in society, especially in enforcing cooperation and fairness.
The Research
Researchers tested their hypothesis through three studies with over 1,000 participants. Their findings indicated that spite was a significant predictor of conspiracy beliefs, including COVID-19 conspiracy theories.
The first study with 301 UK residents measured spite levels, conspiracy beliefs, and various psychological factors linked to conspiracy thinking. These included feeling threatened by other groups, feeling politically powerless, and discomfort with uncertainty.
A second study with 405 UK residents confirmed these findings. Notably, when uncertainty was the main factor, spite accounted for a substantial portion of the effect, suggesting uncertainty is a strong trigger for spiteful reactions.
Why People Turn to Conspiracy Theories
“We are not suggesting that people consciously choose to be spiteful when believing and spreading conspiracy theories,” explains co-author Megan Birney from the University of Birmingham. “Instead, our findings suggest that feelings of disadvantage can provoke a common psychological – spiteful – response, one that makes individuals more receptive to believing conspiracy theories.”
This research challenges how we view conspiracy theorists. Rather than simply being misinformed, some may be responding to perceived disadvantages in ways that make psychological sense to them. By rejecting mainstream explanations, they attempt to reduce the gap between themselves and those they see as having unfair advantages.
Real-World Examples
When people lack scientific knowledge, they may feel at a disadvantage because they don’t understand complex phenomena as well as experts. Rather than accept this disadvantage, some individuals reject scientific consensus entirely, claiming climate scientists are conspiring or that medical experts are hiding “the truth” about vaccines. This rejection can create a sense of special knowledge, flipping the perceived power balance.
Similarly, when individuals feel politically powerless, conspiracy theories allow them to reject the legitimacy of powerful institutions. By viewing scientists, governments, or corporations as malevolent conspirators, believers can explain their disadvantage while undermining those they perceive as more powerful.
Previous research identified three main motivations behind conspiracy beliefs: understanding the world, feeling secure, and maintaining a positive self-image. This new study suggests that spite may unify these motives, showing that they are all manifestations of a common response to feeling disadvantaged. This could be addressed through better science communication and media literacy.
What This Means for Society
If spite plays a role in conspiracy beliefs and science denial, addressing these issues requires more than just providing accurate information. It means tackling the underlying feelings of disadvantage.
“If we understand conspiracy beliefs as a manifestation of spite – a reaction to real or perceived social and economic disadvantage – then tackling misinformation is inseparable from addressing broader societal issues such as financial insecurity and inequality,” adds Gordon.
This research could shift how we view conspiracy theorists, from seeing them as simply irrational to understanding that some may be responding to real social pressures. The problem isn’t just individual psychology but also broader issues like inequality, political disenfranchisement, and complex scientific information that is hard for non-experts to understand.
Paper Summary
Methodology
Three studies were conducted with UK participants recruited through Prolific. Studies 1 and 2 used questionnaires measuring spite, conspiracy beliefs, and psychological factors like feeling threatened, politically powerless, and uncomfortable with uncertainty. Statistical mediation analyses examined whether spite acted as a bridge between these factors and conspiracy beliefs. Study 3 attempted to experimentally induce spite by having participants respond to a scenario about being replaced in a friendship circle. However, only some participants exhibited increased spite.
Results
Spite was a significant predictor of conspiracy beliefs across all studies. Mediation analyses showed that spite linked psychological factors to conspiracy beliefs, accounting for 16-80% of the total relationship. In Study 3, participants who wrote genuinely spiteful responses showed higher spite levels, which were associated with stronger conspiracy beliefs. The strongest relationship appeared between spite, uncertainty, and conspiracy beliefs.
Limitations
The mediation effects, while significant, were modest in size, suggesting that other factors also influence conspiracy beliefs. The experimental manipulation in Study 3 did not directly increase conspiracy beliefs across all participants. The cross-sectional design limits causal conclusions, and the exclusively UK sample may affect generalizability. Participants generally showed low belief in COVID-19 conspiracies.
Discussion and Takeaways
The spite framework provides a new perspective on conspiracy beliefs by showing that they may stem from perceived competitive disadvantage. This suggests that effective interventions should address underlying feelings of disadvantage rather than just providing accurate information. Improving science communication could reduce epistemic disadvantage, while addressing inequality and political disenfranchisement might reduce existential and social motives for spite.
Funding and Disclosures
The research was supported by an internal grant from the University of Chester. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Publication Information
The journal paper, “Spite and Science-Denial: Exploring the Role of Spitefulness in Conspiracy Ideation and COVID-19 Conspiracy Beliefs,” was conducted by David S. Gordon from the University of Staffordshire and Megan E. Birney from the University of Birmingham. The research was published in the Journal of Social Issues in 2025.
Conspiracy theorists (CTers) are the biggest hive mind community out there. You can see it in the comments here. They just repeat the same old talking points, pretending they are critical thinkers, but there’s no substance in their echo chamber.
https://www.historythink.blog/conspiracy-theories-definition/
Because the mainstream media and their paid patsies like you tell the masses, what to think and believe without doing your homework. These so called experts are almost always wrong, see Climate Change, UFO’s/UAP’s/Drones (whatever you are calling them today?) and many other topics, like the COVID nonsense! Thus, the term ‘Conspiracy Theory’ is used as a disinformation tool to quell dedate and discredit topics, without researching these type of topics with real experts in these fields.
The tone of many of the comments on here fit right in with the study’s analysis: Defensive, irritable responses from people who feel disenfranchised and victimized. It is natural to want to fight back against these feelings of inferiority by embracing weird theories that make one feel superior and part of a special highly perceptive club that casts everyone else as a sheep.
My conspiracy theory about conspiracy theories is that the ridiculous ones, like flat earth, lizard people, faked moon landing, are concocted to discredit actual conspiracies. Some examples of actual conspiracies are the Federal Reserve Bank and numerous foreign policy programs the US government has conducted using the CIA to undermine foreign governments.
Perhaps it has something to do with the repeated experience of have so-called conspiracy theories end up as the literal truth. People have woken up to the fact that you and your ilk are nothing more than propaganda mouthpieces of the left. Nobody listens to your bovine scat any longer.
No one disputes Climate change….the debate is what is causing it….man made or natural….scientists themselves are on both sides of the fence…..
What a stupid article. Yes covid is a scam and its easily provable just like the climate hoax. Anybody who thinks o2 is bad s a moron. These dinks who go on about conspiracy theorists have no critical reasoning,and are cowards who will repeat any bllsht the collective npc controllers spew to control the narrative. They’re too stupid to know theyre being played
With the attitude you display in this post, I can’t imagine you’ve had a lot of experience with being right.
I’m not too bright so 1st could you explain just what is a conspiracy theory? My guess is that your interpretation is anyone who disagrees with the government issued analysis. So, if the government says that Covid-19 is deadly & the vaccine will save us then we are expected blindly believe it. Because that’s what we were told. We were told to stay 6ft apart, wear the mask & get the vaccine be we had to, as Fauci said “Trust the science.” Now many doubted it. The the Congressional Report on Covid was released & it said “No one knows where the 6ft rule came from.” Also, “the masks were of no benefit.” And my favorite “There is no science.” So does that mean the conspiracy theorists were right or just all “just felt left out.?
How many are just pulling your leg? Birds Aren’t Real.
Actually some are and some aren’t is a more plausible argument. Dogs and cats have been recruited by the CIA to work the plot. Cats catch and eat the real birds while dogs dispose of failed surveillance drone-birds.
Here are some conspiracy theories from history. The Old Pretender was a fraud smuggled into the birth bed of James II’s queen. Let’s see, John Wilkes Booth was part of a conspiracy to kill Lincoln. Joe Biden engaged in Socratic dialogues in the Oval Office.
Suspect study. Climate change solely caused by man is NOT settled science! There are other suspect items there. Are “Study Finds” articles being set up to mislead?
Alright so you are powerless and feel spite. We get it.
For many it’s about the ability to recognize truth even in the face of societal pressures to embrace the lying hive mind.
So the arrogant belief that your 9th grade education, lack of reading anything substantive and poor grammar give you an insight to things that others have studied through college, and written peer reviewed studies on, got it.
A conspiracy theory is simply the belief that two or more persons are colluding to control or manipulate events behind the scenes. To either deny the existence of conspiracies (the truth of which are vetted over and over throughout history) or suggest that most are due to the spite of the believer is moronic at best and at worst, a conspiracy in and of itself. The CIA has popularized the term for decades to discredit various critics. Look up CIA Document 1035-960.
You are repeating CTer talking points that have no basis in logic or facts.
1) The Term:
CTers often argue that “a conspiracy is just two or more people plotting together and a theory is just an idea. If you suspect that two people are planning a crime, you’re a conspiracy theorist.” This definition ignores how terms evolve to take on specific meanings in different contexts. By that logic, ice cream would be nothing more than ice with cream poured over it. Just as ice cream describes something specific and unique, so too does “conspiracy theory.” It refers to a worldview that looks for and pretends to find, super secret, immensely powerful actors behind every significant event.
https://www.historythink.blog/there-are-no-real-conspiracy-theories/
2) CIA Document 1035-960 does not exist. That number has nothing to do with the CIA. Nor did the CIA have anything to do with popularizing, weaponizing, or creating the term “conspiracy theory.”
https://www.historythink.blog/truth-cia-document-1035-960/
“Spite is the desire to ‘level the playing field’ by trying to knock someone else down because it feels like there is no other choice.” So, jealousy, laziness, inadequacy, irresponsibility, which one or all of those does the aforementioned describe?
Awesome. Being highly critical and distrusting of government and authority should be man’s default position as he navigates the world.
lol @ faked moon landing and climate change are the same.
More Marxist propaganda masquerading as social science. Bias of author/s is to increase bureaucracy in order to reduce “financial insecurity” and “inequality” (as if that were even possible). Notice that author/s never investigated actual claims of the “conspiracy theorists” to see if they actually had a valid, logical point – instead, they want to monkey with the financial system to eliminate “inequality.” Right.
Spite and wanting to be accepted. It’s like a religion. When you break down ‘conspiracies’, most people don’t care if it’s true or not, they just stubbornly believe it because a, b or c said so.. I met a woman like that. I told her something and she said, I didn’t hear it on XYZ, so I don’t believe it. Humans are weird like that.
M.D.s too. If they weren’t taught it in med school its not true or important, or so they think. Covid, anyone ?
Maybe the Avian Flu will be deadly and fast spreading… and we have the vaccine (if you choose to take it).