Is autism a risk factor for conspiracy thinking, or could it actually protect against it? A study in Cognitive Neuropsychiatry set out to explore these contrasting ideas, finding that autism does not seem to influence belief in conspiracy theories at all. After examining large samples of both autistic and non-autistic adults, researchers found no difference in conspiracy mentality between the two groups.
The researchers aimed to test two main hypotheses about the relationship between autism and conspiracy beliefs. On one hand, some theories suggest that autism might increase susceptibility to conspiracy beliefs because autistic individuals may experience higher levels of social exclusion, stigmatization, and anxiety, which have been associated with increased conspiracy thinking. These social challenges could potentially lead autistic individuals to develop beliefs in conspiracies as a way to make sense of these experiences.
Alternatively, an opposing hypothesis suggests that autism might actually serve as a protective factor against conspiracy beliefs. This is based on cognitive traits often found in autism, such as analytical thinking and a tendency toward systematic information processing. These qualities could make autistic people more skeptical of unverified or irrational claims, potentially reducing their likelihood to believe in conspiracy theories.
“Initially, we were interested in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on autistic individuals. During the pandemic new conspiracy theories arose (e.g. regarding vaccinations) and we wanted to examine whether autistic individuals were more prone to endorse conspiracy theories or were more protected against conspiracy thinking, due to their enhanced rationality,” said study author Sanne Roels, a research assistant at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam who is also affiliated with the Netherlands Autism Register.
To investigate this, the researchers designed a study comparing two groups: one group with diagnosed autism and another drawn from the general population. A total of 5,040 participants joined the study, including 682 autistic individuals and 4,358 non-autistic participants, all from the Netherlands. The autistic participants had been clinically diagnosed and represented a mix of genders, educational backgrounds, and ages.
The team used a well-known survey tool, the Conspiracy Mentality Questionnaire, which assesses a general tendency to believe in conspiracies rather than evaluating specific beliefs. The questionnaire includes items such as “I think events which superficially seem to lack a connection are often the result of secret activities.”
In other words, conspiracy mentality assess the broad inclination to suspect hidden agendas and secret operations, rather than single instances of conspiracy beliefs, which can be highly situational. The researchers also included a measure of autistic traits to see if certain characteristics of autism, rather than the diagnosis itself, could predict a tendency toward conspiracy thinking.
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.
“It was somewhat surprising to find no significant difference between autistic individuals and the general population in terms of conspiracy mentality,” Roels told PsyPost. “Given previous research, one might expect that autism influences belief patterns, but this wasn’t the case in our study.”
Within the autistic sample, researchers conducted additional analyses to see if particular traits, such as a strong focus on patterns, might correlate with conspiracy mentality. They found that autistic participants who scored higher in recognizing patterns had slightly higher conspiracy mentality scores.
However, those with higher levels of imagination were somewhat less likely to believe in conspiracies. Despite these small correlations, the overall data suggested that autistic traits were not reliable indicators of conspiracy mentality. In other words, autism-related traits in this study sample did not provide a meaningful prediction for conspiracy beliefs.
“The key takeaway (based on a very large sample of autistic and general population individuals) is that autistic people are no more likely to believe in conspiracy theories than the general population,” Roels said. “Autism doesn’t make someone prone to conspiracy mentality, challenging misconceptions that may link autism to such beliefs. Also, autism was no safeguard against conspiracy mentality.”
Like any study, this research has its limitations. The findings are based on self-reported surveys, which can be affected by personal bias or varying interpretations of questions. The study also focused only on general conspiracy mentality, meaning that people’s beliefs in specific conspiracy theories—like certain political or health-related conspiracies—were not directly examined.
“While we controlled for several demographic factors, other unmeasured variables could play a role in shaping conspiracy mentality,” Roels noted.
Further research could provide a deeper understanding by examining other factors, such as individual experiences of social exclusion and its impact on conspiracy beliefs.
“We are continuously trying for to understand autism better, both the vulnerability and the strength,” Roels said. “People with autism have been shown to make more rational and moral decisions compared to non-autistic people in the past. We are aiming to further study these positive features of autism in our new projects.”
“This study helps dispel stereotypes about autism and conspiracy beliefs, contributing to a broader understanding of cognitive diversity. It highlights the need for more nuanced discussions about both autism and belief in misinformation.”
The study, “Conspiracy mentality in autistic and non-autistic individuals,” was authored by Sanne Roels, Sander Begeer, Anke M. Scheeren, and Jan-Willem van Prooijen.
