Social exclusion can lead people to seek meaning from stories that may not be true - and it could be why many white, working-class people in America voted for President Donald Trump.

Researchers have found that social exclusion leads to conspiratorial thinking - and when those with conspiratorial ideas share their beliefs, it can drive away family and friends, triggering even more social exclusion.

This can lead them to join conspiracy theory communities where they feel welcome and no longer socially isolated, and this further strengthens their beliefs.

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Social exclusion can lead people to seek meaning from stories that may not be true - and it could be why many white, working-class people in America voted for President Donald Trump. Social exclusion leads to conspiratorial thinking - and when those with conspiratorial ideas share their beliefs, it can drive away family and friends, triggering even more social exclusion

'Attempting to disrupt this cycle might be the best bet for someone interested in counteracting conspiracy theories at a societal level,' said co-lead author Professor Alin Coman, assistant professor of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University.

'Otherwise, communities could become more prone to propagating inaccurate and conspiratorial beliefs.'

The research didn't focus specifically on Trump supporters, but it took two random samples of people which found that feelings of despair brought on by social exclusion can lead people to seek meaning from miraculous stories which many not necessarily be true.

For the first part of the study, which will be published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology in March 2017, the researchers recruited 119 participants through Amazon's Mechanical Turk - a crowdsourcing internet marketplace.

There were four stages of the study: First, participants were asked to write about a recent unpleasant event that involved a close friend.

'Attempting to disrupt this cycle might be the best bet for someone interested in counteracting conspiracy theories at a societal level,' said co-lead author Professor Alin Coman (pictured), assistant professor of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University

They they were asked to rate the degree to which they felt 14 different emotions - including exclusion.

They were then asked to complete a questionnaire that had 10 statements and to rank how much they agree or disagree with them using a seven-point scale from absolutely untrue to absolutely true.

Some of the statements were 'I am seeking a purpose or mission for my life' and 'I have discovered a satisfying life purpose.'

For the final step, participants had to indicate how much they agreed with three different conspiracy theories from one (not at all) to seven (extremely).

The theories were: 'Pharmaceutical companies withhold cures for financial reasons', 'Governments use messages below the level of awareness to influence people’s decisions' and 'Events in the Bermuda Triangle constitute evidence of paranormal activity.'

'We chose these particular conspiracy theories for their widespread appeal in the population' said Professor Coman.

'These three are, indeed, endorsed by a significant portion of the American population.'

LINKS BETWEEN CONSPIRACY, NARCISSISM AND SELF-ESTEEM In a different research paper, over the course of three online-based studies, researchers at the University of Kent showed strong links between the belief in conspiracy theories and these psychological traits. The results showed that those people who rated highly on the narcissism scale and who had low self-esteem were more likely to be conspiracy believers. But while low self-esteem, narcissism and belief in conspiracies are strongly linked, it is not clear that one - or a combination - causes the other. But it hints at an interesting new angle to the world of conspiracy and those who reinforce belief. Advertisement

When the researchers analyzed the data from this experiment, their expectations were confirmed - social exclusions leads to superstitious beliefs and is likely due to people searching for meaning in everyday experiences.

'Those who are excluded may begin to wonder why they’re excluded in the first place, causing them to seek meaning in their lives,' Professor Coman said.

'This may then lead them to endorse certain conspiracy beliefs.'

'When you’re included, it doesn’t necessarily trigger the same response.'

In a second investigation, the researchers wanted to find out if the degree to which someone is socially excluded actually causes conspiratorial beliefs.

In a study analyzing the link between social exclusion and conspiratorial thinking, one stage involved participants having to indicate how much they agreed with three different conspiracy theories from one (not at all) to seven (extremely). The theories were: 'Pharmaceutical companies withhold cures for financial reasons', 'Governments use messages below the level of awareness to influence people’s decisions' and 'Events in the Bermuda Triangle constitute evidence of paranormal activity'

They recruited 120 Princeton students who were each asked to write two paragraphs describing themselves: One about 'What it means to be me' and the other about 'The kind of person I want to be.'

The participants were told the paragraphs would be given to two other participants in the room - who would then rank whether they'd want to work with them.

But this never happened - the participants didn't evaluate each other's self descriptions - instead they ranked descriptions created by the researchers.

Each of the three participants in a group was then randomly selected to either be in the inclusion group (selected to work with) the exclusion group (not selected to work with) or the control group (no instructions about selection).

'When developing laws, regulations, policies and programs, policymakers should worry about whether people feel excluded by their enactment,' said Professor Coman. 'Otherwise, we may create societies that are prone to spreading inaccurate and superstitious beliefs'

All the participants then went through the four steps from the first experiment to measure how social exclusion is linked to acceptance of conspiracy theories.

The findings of this experiment were the same: If a person feels excluded, they are more likely to hold conspiratorial beliefs.

Professor Coman said that these findings highlight the need for inclusion policies - especially among populations at risk of exclusion.

'When developing laws, regulations, policies and programs, policymakers should worry about whether people feel excluded by their enactment,' Professor Coman said.

'Otherwise, we may create societies that are prone to spreading inaccurate and superstitious beliefs.'