While conspiracy theories may offer benefits to those who believe in them, they can also foster intergroup conflict, threaten democracy, and undercut public health. We argue that the motivations behind conspiracy theory belief are often related to social identity. Conspiracy theories are well-positioned to fulfill social identity needs such as belongingness goals, the need to think highly of one's in-group, and the need to feel secure in one's group status. Understanding the social motives that attract people to conspiracy theories should be a focus of future research, and may be key to creating more successful interventions to reduce socially harmful conspiracy theories.

虽然阴谋论可能会给相信它们的人带来好处，但它们也可能助长群体间冲突、威胁民主并削弱公共卫生。我们认为，阴谋论信仰背后的动机通常与社会认同有关。阴谋论可以很好地满足社会认同需求，例如归属感目标、高度评价一个人的群体内的需要以及在一个人的群体地位中感到安全的需要。了解将人们吸引到阴谋论的社会动机应该是未来研究的重点，并且可能是创造更成功的干预措施以减少对社会有害的阴谋论的关键。