Über Verschwörungstheorien und ihre Anhänger

In the current intensely conducted debate about the corona pandemic and its consequences, numerous citizens have spoken out mistrusting the statements of politicians and scientists and claiming that the virus has been spread by malicious persons or hostile powers intentionally and out of selfish interests. Such conspiracy theories spread whenever people have to deal with surprising and frightening events. This article provides an overview of the history of conspiracy theories and explores the question of which persons are prone to conspiracy theories and for what reasons. From a psychodynamic perspective these are people who, partly from unconscious motives, tend to accuse others of having hostile intentions against which they have to defend themselves by force. From some parallels to conflictual psychotherapeutic relationship situations, initial suggestions can be derived for a constructive approach to conspiracy theory supporters in educational and political contexts.