A new study published in Cognitive Neuropsychiatry has found no connection between autism and a general tendency to believe in conspiracies.

In their analysis, the researchers found no significant differences in conspiracy mentality between the autistic group and the general population. Both groups scored similarly, indicating that being autistic does not inherently affect one’s general susceptibility to conspiracy beliefs.

This finding suggests that conspiracy mentality is not linked with autism, contradicting two potential hypotheses the researchers explored: one that autism might increase susceptibility to conspiracy beliefs due to common experiences of social exclusion, and another that autism might offer a type of protection against these beliefs due to cognitive characteristics associated with autism, such as analytical thinking.

Link to the study:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13546805.2024.2399505#abstract

  • dustyData@lemmy.world
    5·
    18 days ago

    Brain damage in general is my hypothesis. Repeated head trauma, toxic substances like drug abuse and heavy metals in general. Anything that damages brain tissue eventually disrupts the ability for rational thought in the mild end to disconnection with reality altogether in the most extreme cases of psychosis.