Are Extraversion and Introversion Levels Predictive of Belief in Conspiracy Theories

The more recent research on the psychology of conspiracy theory belief has focused on strong political ideology, certain races like African Americans and higher education as predictors for belief in conspiracy theories. There is very little research in the field concerning individual personality traits and their correlation with belief in conspiracy theories. In order to rectify this lack, this study researches the correlation between extraversion levels and belief in conspiracy theories by conducting surveys and then conducting a Pearson correlation analysis. The study concluded that extraversion is moderately correlated with belief in conspiracy theories. However, the study is limited by population size, gender imbalance among the representative sample, debates concerning the statistical tests’ validity with likert scales, and self-report bias among survey participants. Future research could be done on other individual, personological traits.