Yahoo News 
People who believe in conspiracy theories ‘might just be lonely’, study claims
In America, 65 million people believe that a UFO crashed at Roswell – and another 21 million people believe that the moon landings were faked.
Conspiracy theories became big news last year as ‘fake news’ sites spread misinformation during the election – including conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton.
But the reason why so many people believe in these strange ideas may be down to something simple – loneliness, according to a study published in Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
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Researchers asked volunteers to write about bad experiences with friends – then rate their belief in conspiracies such as the idea that drug companies withhold cures.
The more exclude people felt, the more likely they were to believe in the conspiracy theories.
A second experiment had volunteers made to feel excluded by peers – then presented with scenarios about conspiracies.
Again, people who felt more excluded were more likely to believe in the conspiracies.
Alin Coman of Princeton University said, ‘People think of conspiracy theorists as these weirdos. Anybody could become entrenched in that kind of thinking if the right circumstances arise.’
