Why life's hardships may make conspiracy theories more appealing

Phys · Aug 04, 2026 · 500 words · By University

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What to know about Why life's hardships may make conspiracy theories more appealing

The article reports on research from the University of Nottingham and University of Cumbria regarding the link between lifetime adversity and conspiracy beliefs. The studies suggest that perceptions of a fundamentally unfair world, rather than hardship alone, make individuals more susceptible to such theories and lead to lower trust in institutions.

Propaganda risk 0%

Claims checked 8

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why life's hardships may make conspiracy theories more appealing Sadie Harley Scientific Editor Alexander Pol Deputy Editor People who experience greater hardship throughout their lives may become more susceptible to conspiracy theories when those experiences…

Why it matters

Researchers from the University of Nottingham's School of Psychology, working with the University of Cumbria, conducted three studies with more than 1,200 participants.

Common ground

Across the studies, they found consistent evidence that perceptions of injustice help explain the relationship between lifetime adversity and conspiracy beliefs.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Why life's hardships may make conspiracy theories more appealing?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The findings, published in the British Journal of Psychology, suggest that it is not simply experiencing hardship that matters for endorsement of conspiracy beliefs, but how those experiences can shape people's broader beliefs about fairness and justice?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-life-hardships-conspiracy-theories-appealing.html

analyticsAnalysis

Propaganda Score

confidence: 100%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 8 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 8

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Claim 1: “The findings, published in the British Journal of Psychology, suggest that it is not simply experiencing hardship that matters for endorsement of conspiracy beliefs, but how those experiences can shape people's broader beliefs about fairness and justice.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources (EurekAlert, other web results) confirm the findings were published in the British Journal of Psychology and that perceptions of injustice mediate the relationship between hardship and conspiracy beliefs.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied is a bimonthly double-blind, peer-review psychology journal published by Taylor & Francis. The Journal of Psychology was founded in 1935 by Car…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Journal_of_Psychology

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The British Journal of Psychology is a quarterly peer-reviewed psychology journal. It was established in 1904 and is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the British Psychological Society. The ed…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Journal_of_Psychology

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The British Journal of Social Psychology is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the British Psychological Society. It publishes original papers on subjects like …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Journal_of_Social_Psyc…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “In the first study, researchers examined whether cumulative lifetime adversity, including experiences such as serious illness or injury, bereavement, financial difficulties, relationship breakdown and violence, was associated with conspiracy thinking.”

CORROBORATED

Two independent web sources explicitly describe the first study's focus on cumulative lifetime adversity, including the specific examples of illness, bereavement, financial difficulties, relationship breakdown, and violence.

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web search NEUTRAL — The relationship between adversity and conspiracy beliefs in the first two studies is correlational, meaning the data cannot confirm that one variable directly causes the other.
https://www.psypost.org/believing-the-world-is-unfair-may-ex…

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web search NEUTRAL — In the first study, researchers examined whether cumulative lifetime adversity, including experiences such as serious illness or injury, bereavement, financial difficulties, relationship breakdown and…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-life-hardships-conspiracy-theo…

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web search NEUTRAL — In the first study, the researchers measured participants’ exposure to adverse events across their lifetimes and assessed their beliefs about justice and conspiracy theories.
https://bioengineer.org/how-lifes-hardships-can-make-conspir…

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Claim 3: “The world is an unjust place: The impact of lifetime adversity on belief in conspiracy theorie, British Journal of Psychology (2026). DOI: 10.1111/bjop.70101”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the article title 'The world is an unjust place: The impact of lifetime adversity on belief in conspiracy theories' and its publication in the British Journal of Psychology. While the 2026 date appears in some snippets (likely a future-dated publication or typo in the source), the title and journal are verified.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 4: “The second study compared people who had experienced violent victimization with those who had never been victims of crime. Those who had experienced violent crime reported stronger perceptions of injustice, which in turn were associated with stronger conspiracy beliefs, even after accounting for influential demographic factors.”

CORROBORATED

Both EurekAlert and another web source confirm the second study's findings regarding victims of violent crime, perceptions of injustice, and conspiracy beliefs, specifically mentioning the control for demographic factors.

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web search NEUTRAL — After accounting for demographic factors, people who had experienced violent crime reported stronger perceptions of injustice. Our final study found that greater lifetime adversity was associated with…
https://theconversation.com/why-do-some-people-feel-life-is-…

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web search NEUTRAL — Those who had experienced violent crime reported stronger perceptions of injustice, which in turn were associated with stronger conspiracy beliefs, even after accounting for influential demographic fa…
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1138583

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web search NEUTRAL — Asian states at the Arctic Council: perceptions in Western States.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1088937X.2019.15…

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Claim 5: “Greater lifetime adversity was associated with stronger perceptions of injustice, which were linked to higher endorsement of political conspiracy beliefs and, in turn, lower trust in institutions.”

CORROBORATED

Three independent sources (including Homeland Security Newswire and other web results) explicitly state that lifetime adversity was associated with perceptions of injustice, political conspiracy beliefs, and lower trust in institutions.

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web search NEUTRAL — Aug 5, 2026 · Greater lifetime adversity was associated with stronger perceptions of injustice, which were linked to higher endorsement of political conspiracy beliefs and, in turn, lower...
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-life-hardships-conspiracy-theo…

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web search NEUTRAL — Aug 4, 2026 · Additional analyses revealed that adversity predicted institutional distrust via injustice and political conspiracy beliefs. These findings advance interdisciplinary understanding and id…
https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjop.…

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web search NEUTRAL — 6 days ago · Greater lifetime adversity was associated with stronger perceptions of injustice, which were linked to higher endorsement of political conspiracy beliefs and, in turn, lower trust in inst…
https://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20260805-why-life…

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Claim 6: “In the third study, researchers experimentally tested the role of perceived fairness. Participants who were led to think society was becoming more unfair subsequently reported stronger conspiracy beliefs than those led to think society was becoming fairer.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results confirm the experimental nature of the third study and the result that participants led to believe society was becoming more unfair reported stronger conspiracy beliefs.

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web search NEUTRAL — Participants who were led to think society was becoming more unfair subsequently reported stronger conspiracy beliefs than those led to think society was becoming fairer. The study also found evidence…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-life-hardships-conspiracy-theo…

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web search NEUTRAL — Furthermore, if someone increasingly believes that the world is unfair, they may be more likely to notice fresh examples of perceived injustice, corruption or hidden motives – and interpret new events…
https://theconversation.com/why-do-some-people-feel-life-is-…

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web search NEUTRAL — One more result stands out. Extreme conspiracy beliefs were rare in the actual data, yet anyone active on social media knows these claims can seem to be everywhere, showing up in comment sections and …
https://studyfinds.com/vaccine-conspiracy-beliefs-media-dist…

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Claim 7: “Researchers from the University of Nottingham's School of Psychology, working with the University of Cumbria, conducted three studies with more than 1,200 participants.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm the study involved three surveys with more than 1,200 participants and was conducted by researchers from the University of Nottingham (Daniel Jolley, Laura Blackie). While the University of Cumbria is not explicitly named in the snippet, the participant count and university affiliation are confirmed across sources.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university located in Nottingham, England, which lies along the River Trent. Its origins date back to the establishment of the Nottingham Governm…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nottingham_Trent_University

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The University of Cumbria is a public university in Cumbria, with its headquarters in Carlisle and other major campuses in Lancaster, Ambleside, and London. It has roots extending back to the Society …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Cumbria

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter as a university in 1948. N…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Nottingham

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “People who reported experiencing a greater number of adverse life events throughout their lives were more likely to perceive the world as unjust, and these perceptions were linked with stronger conspiracy beliefs.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the link between greater lifetime adversity, perceptions of the world as unjust, and stronger conspiracy beliefs.

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web search NEUTRAL — They did, however, find a direct link between recent economic hardship and conspiracy thinking. More importantly, both types of hardship were positively associated with stronger beliefs that the world…
https://www.psypost.org/believing-the-world-is-unfair-may-ex…

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web search NEUTRAL — In our investigation of the impact of adverse life experiences on people, we found a remarkably consistent pattern. When these hardships are associated with stronger perceptions of injustice in the wo…
https://theconversation.com/why-do-some-people-feel-life-is-…

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web search NEUTRAL — Greater lifetime adversity was associated with stronger perceptions of injustice, which were linked to higher endorsement of political conspiracy beliefs and, in turn, lower trust in institutions. Dr.…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-life-hardships-conspiracy-theo…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.