Le motivazioni del cospirazionismo

[Machine translation] What does it mean to embrace a conspiracy theory? Why does the conspiracy theorist, regardless of education level and profession, try to defend and even spread it, despite obvious contradictions that are sometimes very imaginative? According to the authors, the only way to give a satisfactory answer to the understanding of the phenomenon of conspiracy - a social phenomenon that has reached a worrying diffusion with serious psychological, cultural and political implications - is to be able to understand the reasons for its fascination. The authors illustrate a possible 'perfect recipe' to trigger and self-nourish the conspiracy mentality. The review of the most recent literature shows that feelings of existential insecurity and generalized anxiety may be indicated as the first ingredient of the recipe; they would also be able to distort the mechanisms of reasoning and information acquisition. Peculiar narcissistic traits and defenses combined with a condition of isolation and social frustration are the compounds of the second ingredient. These last traits embody those paranoid ideations, which attract so much media attention. The third ingredient is the need for integration (and social recognition), an uncontrollable motivational drive, the true glue of conspiracy networks.