Rob Brotherton's Blog

by Daniel Jolley and Iwan Dinnick for the Conversation.

Conspiracy theories captivate the imagination. They offer simple explanations for complex events, often involving secret plots by powerful groups. From the belief that the moon landing was faked to claims of election fraud, conspiracy theories shape public opinion and influence behaviour.

Research has explored cognitive biases, social influences and personality traits to understand why people believe in conspiracy theories. However, such research overlooks subtle day-to-day influences on conspiratorial thinking, like stress or sleep.

Our new research shows that poor sleep quality plays a key role in conspiracy beliefs.

Belief in conspiracy theories is influenced by psychological and social factors. Cognitive biases, like seeing patterns in random information, make people more prone to conspiratorial thinking.

Social influences, including social norms, also play a significant role. Personality traits such as narcissism and a preference for intuitive thinking are linked to greater conspiracy beliefs.

While these factors are well documented, our research adds another key factor: sleep quality. Poor sleep may increase cognitive biases and emotional distress, making people more likely to accept conspiratorial explanations.

The sleep factor

Sleep is crucial for mental health, emotion regulation and cognitive functioning. Poor sleep has been linked to increased anxiety, depression and paranoia – all of which are also associated with conspiracy belief.

However, sleep is rarely discussed in explanations for conspiratorial thinking.

One study found that insomnia, a clinical disorder, affects conspiracy beliefs. Building on this work, our research, published in the Journal of Health Psychology, examined how poor sleep quality, a nonclinical condition, influences conspiracy beliefs.

In the first of our studies, 540 participants completed a standard sleep quality assessment before reading about the 2019 Notre Dame cathedral fire. Half saw a conspiratorial version suggesting a cover-up, while the other half read a factual account citing an accident. The results showed that participants with poorer sleep were significantly more likely to believe the conspiracy narrative.

The second study, with 575 participants, explored psychological factors such as depression, paranoia and anger to understand how poor sleep contributes to conspiracy beliefs.

The findings confirmed that poor sleep quality was linked to conspiracy belief, with depression being the strongest link between the two. In other words, increased depression helped explain why poor sleep quality is associated with conspiratorial thinking.

Causation or correlation?

While our study links poor sleep and conspiracy belief, this doesn’t prove cause and effect. Another factor may underlie both.

For example, chronic stress or anxiety could contribute to both poor sleep and a heightened susceptibility to conspiratorial thinking. Improving mental health may be as important as better sleep.

At the same time, research on sleep deprivation shows that lack of sleep can increase anger, depression and paranoia. This could make people more vulnerable to misinformation, as seen in our research.

Future studies could use controlled experiments to examine how poor sleep contributes to conspiracy beliefs. Research shows that acute sleep deprivation increases anxiety and depression compared to normal sleep. A similar study could test whether severe sleep loss also heightens conspiracy beliefs.

Poor sleep may make people more prone to anxiety and depression. GillianVann/Shutterstock

Conspiracy beliefs are not just harmless curiosities; they can have serious real-world consequences.

They have been linked to vaccine hesitancy, climate change denial and violent extremism. Understanding the factors that contribute to their spread is essential for addressing misinformation and promoting informed decision-making.

Our findings suggest that improving sleep quality may reduce conspiracy beliefs. Sleep-focused interventions, such as insomnia therapy or public health initiatives, could help counter conspiratorial thinking.

Most research on conspiracy theories focuses on thinking styles and social influences. Our study highlights sleep as a key factor, suggesting poor sleep may not only impact health and wellbeing, but also shape our worldview.

At the same time, sleep is only one piece of the puzzle.

Conspiracy beliefs likely arise from a combination of cognitive biases, social influences, emotional states and personal worldviews. Plenty of people who sleep badly would not be seduced by conspiracy theories. Future research should explore how poor sleep interacts with these other known predictors of conspiracy beliefs.

By prioritising good sleep, we can improve both our mental and physical health, while strengthening our ability to think critically and resist misinformation in an increasingly complex world.

Read the full piece on The Conversation:  https://theconversation.com/how-poor-sleep-could-fuel-belief-in-conspiracy-theories-251669

by Daniel Jolley and Anthony Lantian for the Conversation.

From vaccine uptake to violent extremism, conspiracy beliefs are linked to distrust in major institutions or powerful figures.

Research developed in the last decade shows how conspiracy beliefs can be linked to people’s lack of control in their lives, feeling threatened or even workplace bullying.

Conspiracy theories are defined by psychologists as “explanations for important events that involve secret plots by powerful and malevolent groups” without any basis in fact. Followers point a finger at groups they think of as powerful, from scientists and doctors to minority groups such as Jewish people, and blame them for events or societal change.

Conspiracies, where powerful figures secretly plot to undermine something or someone, do exist. The Watergate scandal involved a break in at the US Democratic National Committee headquarters by burglars connected to President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign.

The burglars were caught wiretapping phones. Nixon tried to cover up the crimes but journalists uncovered his role in the conspiracy. But the difference here is that there is evidence to back up what happened.

However, conspiracists insist their theories are true even when there is no evidence that holds up to scrutiny. Still, conspiracy theories can be persuasive. Millions of British people believe in at least one. It’s a worldwide phenomenon.

Psychology of conspiracy theories

Studies in the early 2010s showed how non-pathological factors, such as uncertainty, are linked to why people turn to conspiracy beliefs. In 2017 psychologist Karen Douglas and colleagues argued the wide appeal of conspiracy theories is their promise to satisfy psychological needs. These include desire for certainty, control and meaning, and to maintain a positive image of yourself and the groups you identify with.

Conspiracy theories can make feelings of anxiety worse. Lia Kos/Shutterstock

Feelings of anxiety and threat increase during a crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. People want to make sense of turbulent societies.

But conspiracy theories do not satisfy the psychological needs that make us reach for them. A 2021 study found conspiracy beliefs don’t lessen anxiety or uncertainty. If anything, there is some evidence people’s sense of existential threat and anxiety increases when they engage with conspiracy theories.

A less well understood factor is collective discrimination, where a group experiences being harmed by another group.

But researchers are getting closer to finding out why conspiracy theories are adopted by a group of people. It can be linked to lack of trust in institutions or society. Work in 2002 showed discrimination experienced by African Americans was associated with their heightened beliefs that HIV is made by humans deliberately. This idea still circulates today.

Research in 2020 found discrimination experienced by gay men in the UK was connected to their conspiracy beliefs about HIV being human-made. Such research underscores the links between conspiracy beliefs and distrust in powerful figures found in minority communities.

In a study into how conspiracy beliefs develop, Greek participants who thought their country historically suffered more than other nations were more likely to be conspiracy theorists. Research with similar study designs have found the same results in French and Polish participants.

Linked to bullying

Our recent research was inspired by previous work linking conspiracy theorising and people’s sense they are being victimised. We focused on workplace bullying. Unlike collective discrimination, bullying is personal, with a power imbalance between the bully and the victim.

Bullied victims report increased feelings of anxiety and paranoia. Being bullied seems to increase the risk of believing in a conspiracy theory.

We carried out two studies. The first study recruited 273 British participants online. We measured participants’ past experiences of workplace bullying by asking them report whether they experienced a range of incidents, such a colleague withholding information which affects a co-workers’ performance. The more negative acts a participant has suffered, the stronger their tendency to engage in conspiracy theorising.

Participants who experienced workplace bullying were more likely to report increased paranoia – to wonder what hidden reason another person may have for doing something nice for them.

In the second study, 206 British participants were asked to imagine they had joined a new work place in the last six months. Half were asked to imagine being bullied in the new workplace (for example being shouted at) or being welcomed. Those who were asked to imagine about being bullied reported an increased general belief in conspiracy theories.

Tackling conspiracy beliefs

Our work highlights how conspiracy beliefs can form in response to circumstances that could happen to anyone. When a hostile environment primes us to search for meaning, we may find a conspiracy explanation appealing.

Research has also started to find solutions to the problem. In 2018 one study found giving people a greater feeling of power reduced the intensity of conspiracy beliefs. Encouraging people to think analytically, which prompts deliberate processing of information, also helps curb the emergence of conspiracy beliefs. Developing these skills in adolescents and conspiracy believers is essential.

Challenging people’s misconceptions about how popular conspiracies are could be effective. For example, one study found giving information to UK parents with anti-vaccine beliefs about other UK parents who did vaccinate their children reduced conspiracy beliefs.

We do not know what tools will work outside of the lab. Mentorship for bullying victims, which has been shown to help people feel more secure, could be a promising place to start. And considering the devastation conspiracy theories can wreak, we can’t afford not to try.

Read the full piece on The Conversation:  https://theconversation.com/bullying-power-and-control-why-people-believe-in-conspiracy-theories-and-how-to-respond-194227

by Daniel Jolley, Andrew McNeill, and Jenny Paterson for the Conversation.

Scientists have learned a lot about why people believe in conspiracy theories and how they harm society over the past couple of decades. Yet little is known about how the groups targeted by conspiracy theories feel and behave.

Our new research found that conspiracy theories can make people from their target communities want to help and support each other. And we also found that popular conspiracy theories about groups of people can make them more fearful and distrustful of people from outside their group.

This means conspiracy theories probably do even more harm to society than people realise. Not only do they stoke up hatred against groups of people, but they also make it harder for the targets of conspiracy theories to feel that they can safely interact with people from outside their community.

Jewish people are often the targets of erroneous conspiracy beliefs. For example, for centuries, many conspiracy theories have centred around a belief that Jewish people have a secretive influence over world affairs. Such beliefs are often widely shared on social media and are probably seen by and affect many who are part of the target group.

In our research, we wanted to look at the impact of shared conspiracy theories on the people they target. In a series of studies published in the British Journal of Psychology, we examined how Jewish people’s awareness of these conspiracy theories affected their emotions and behaviour.

Our previous research into the impact of hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community found such attacks made them feel anxious, angry and suspicious of other people. So we expected that a perception that conspiracy beliefs against Jewish people are popular may lead to similar feelings of anxiety and a reluctance to interact with non-Jewish people.

Our first study, carried out in January 2020 with 250 predominately US Jewish participants, supported these hypotheses. We found that when participants rated Jewish conspiracy theories as popular among non-Jews, this was associated with them feeling more threatened. It was also associated with them being more likely to want to avoid contact with people outside of the Jewish community.

We followed this up in July 2020 with an experiment in which 210 US Jews read two different articles. Half of them read an article which claimed many non-Jewish people believe in Jewish conspiracy theories. The other half read an article which claimed only a few non-Jewish people believe in such conspiracy theories.

The first group reported feeling more threatened. These participants felt more anxious and believed that other Jews would feel anxious and angry, too.

We then examined how these emotions may affect intentions for contact with outsiders. Feelings of anxiety were associated with participants wanting to avoid contact with non-Jewish people. Our findings show how awareness of conspiracy theories can affect people’s emotions, particularly anxiety, and can even result in wanting to avoid contact with people outside the target group.

We repeated the news article experiment in a final study in July 2022 with 209 US Jewish participants, with similar results. These participants also reported that conspiracy theories pose a physical threat to Jewish people. This perception of threat, in turn, was again linked to feeling more angry and anxious.

It’s no wonder that reading about conspiracy theories that involve your community can make you feel anxious. Prostock-studio/Shutterstock

In this study, however, we also asked participants if they would provide support to fellow Jews, a measure we call collective action. Participants who felt anxious also seemed more willing to join and increase participation in groups and charities that help Jewish people.

This final study also included a behavioural task. Participants were told that they had the option to chat with another participant who was non-Jewish. In reality, no interaction would occur, but it allowed us to see how participants would respond.

We found that participants who read that the article claiming that many non-Jewish people believe in Jewish conspiracy theories were more likely to avoid chatting with this hypothetical non-Jewish person.

New perspective

We can’t fully appreciate how conspiracy theories divide society unless we consider how the targets of these beliefs are affected. Not only do conspiracy theories stoke tensions between groups, but these beliefs can do a lot of emotional harm to people from targeted groups. This can make it harder for them to feel safe outside of their community.

We believe that help and support from within these communities by itself is not enough to tackle the emotional toll of conspiracy theories. Developing anxious feelings about encountering others who may believe these false ideas and beginning to avoid people outside one’s group could lead to other people perceiving the targeted group as insular. This could then reinforce erroneous conspiratorial beliefs.

Our findings are very unlikely to be isolated to the Jewish community. As conspiracy theories target many different groups – from healthcare workers and scientists, to entire social groups – these communities probably experience similar effects.

This means that when we think about how to tackle conspiracy beliefs, we need to think about how we support the people they target too. Increased positive contact between groups unaffected by conspiracy theories and groups affected by them may not only lead to reduced belief in conspiracy theories and more positive attitudes but could reduce the anxiety felt by affected groups about encounters with people from outside the community.

Such encounters could reassure groups affected by conspiracy theories that the numbers of people who believe conspiracy theories is lower than they anticipate, and they have more allies than they anticipate.

Read the full piece on The Conversation:  https://theconversation.com/how-conspiracy-theories-can-affect-the-communities-they-attack-new-research-218768

by Daniel Jolley, Karen Douglas, and Mathew Marques for the Conversation.

People’s first instinct when engaging with conspiracy believers is often to try and debunk their ideas with factual and authoritative information.

However, direct confrontation rarely works. Conspiracy theories are persuasive, often playing on people’s feelings and sense of identity. Even if debunking conspiracy theories was effective, it’s difficult to keep up with how quickly they appear and how widespread they travel. A study showed that during 2015 and 2016, the number of propagators of Zika virus conspiracy theories on Twitter twice outnumbered debunkers.

But research into how to talk with conspiracy believers is beginning to show returns. We’ve developed some conversation prompts to use with people you know or only meet in passing. But first, if you want to address someone’s conspiracy beliefs you need to consider the root causes.

People are attracted to conspiracy theories in an attempt to satisfy three psychological needs. They want more certainty, to feel in control, and maintain a positive image of their self and group. During times of crisis, such as the COVID pandemic, these needs are more frustrated and people’s desire to make sense of the world becomes more urgent.

Yet, conspiracy beliefs do not seem to satisfy these psychological needs and may actually make things worse for people, increasing their uncertainty and anxiety. Conspiracy theories don’t just affect people’s state of mind, they can also impact behaviour.

For instance, people who believe in anti-vaccine conspiracy theories – such as the idea that pharmaceutical companies cover up the dangers of vaccines – reported more negative attitudes towards vaccinations and an increased feeling of powerlessness one month later. This is what makes it so important to reach out to conspiracy believers.

What we’ve learned

One important tool to reduce conspiracy beliefs is the power of social norms. People overestimate how much others believe in conspiracy theories, which influences how intensely they buy in themselves. A study in 2021 found that countering this misconception with information about what people actually believe diluted the strength of anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs among a sample of UK adults.

Inoculation is a promising route, too. Giving people factual information in advance of exposure to conspiracy theories can reduce belief in them. This approach could work well in cases like vaccination where people might not think much about the issue before it becomes important to them (for example when they need to decide whether to have their children vaccinated).

Remember to listen. GaudiLab/Shutterstock

You can inoculate yourself too. Research has found that the way people think about control can reduce the likelihood they will subscribe to conspiracy theories. People who are focused on achieving goals find conspiracy theories less appealing than those who fixate on protecting what they already have. The authors of this paper argued that concentrating on shaping your future fosters a sense of control, which reduces conspiracy beliefs.

To help with those difficult discussions with conspiracy believers we developed some evidence-based conversation starters.

1. Be open-minded

An open-minded approach starts with asking questions and listening. It builds understanding with the person. Listen carefully, and avoid defending your own beliefs. Ask questions like this:

When did you first start believing in (briefly reference the conspiracy theory)? And how has this impacted you psychologically? What do these beliefs offer to you?

2. Be receptive

Work on what psychologists call conversational receptiveness to foster empathy which can bridge the gap between the beliefs you each hold. Say things like:

I understand that…; So what you’re saying is…; How does this make you feel?; Tell me more…; I’m listening; and thank you for sharing.

Empathy is key. Dumblin Films/Shutterstock3. Critical thinking

Affirm the value of critical thinking.

If the person you’re talking to already perceives themselves as a critical thinker, redirect this skill towards a deeper examination of the conspiracy theory itself. For example:

We probably both agree that asking questions is important. But it is key we evaluate all pieces of evidence. We need to weigh up the information and make sure we check the evidence that we agree with as well as the things we don’t like or make us feel uncomfortable.

4. Conspiracy theories aren’t the norm

Highlight how conspiracy theories are not as commonplace as people might think.

Readdressing social norms can help address people’s need to protect a group they identify with. Such as:

It is far more typical than you might realise for your neighbours to get vaccinated and protect themselves against COVID-19. People want to work together to protect our community. It’s about us all trying to help people with medical conditions who don’t have the choice to get vaccinated.

5. Think about what can be controlled

Encourage them to be forward-focused and inspire them to put their energy into areas of their life where they experience more control, like this:

There are some aspects of our life that we have no control over, but there are plenty of areas where we have full agency. Let’s list some examples where we have power and independence that we can then focus on.

These conversations can be difficult, but they are crucial. Using an empathetic, understanding, and open-minded approach will nurture trust. Research shows that gaining someone’s confidence is important to preventing radicalisation.

Reassure the person if they feel uncertain, make them feel more in control if they are worried or powerless, and help them make social connections if they feel isolated.

Read the full piece on The Conversation:  https://theconversation.com/how-to-talk-to-someone-about-conspiracy-theories-in-five-simple-steps-197819

by Iwan Dinnick and Daniel Jolley, written for the Conversation.

Hurricane Milton slammed into the west coast of Florida on October 9, becoming the second powerful hurricane to hit the state in just two weeks.

While most people turned to meteorologists for explanations, a vocal minority remained sceptical, proposing that the hurricanes were engineered, that Florida’s weather was being manipulated, or even that it was targeted at Republican voters.

These ideas aren’t new. As psychologists, we research the roots of conspiracy theories, and have found they often emerge in the wake of natural disasters. Investigating these theories is especially crucial as extreme weather events are projected to become more severe and frequent.

Conspiracy theories explain important events by attributing them to the secret actions of a small, powerful group. Yet, if we take a step back from this psychological definition, something striking becomes apparent.

If conspiracy theories explain events as the actions of a small group, then conspiracy theories should only apply to events where such a group’s influence is plausible.

For example, faking the moon landing would have required Nasa to create an elaborate set, costumes, actors, and maintain secrecy. While unlikely, it is conceivable because humans can design sets, make costumes, and act. However, climate-based conspiracy theories don’t fit this mould as easily.

Unlike movie sets or staged events, humans don’t control the climate in the same direct way. While we can seed individual clouds to encourage rain, for instance, a whole hurricane is simply far too big and too powerful for human technology to have any impact. This makes climate conspiracy theories seem less plausible, as the climate is beyond the direct manipulation that other conspiracy theories depend on.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Donald Trump made a series of false claims including that the government was ‘going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas’. Erik S Lesser / EPAWhy people turn to weather conspiracies

People have a fundamental need to feel safe and secure in their environment. If climate change is real, it poses an existential threat, leading some to reject it in favour of conspiracy theories that preserve their sense of safety.

Additionally, individuals desire a sense of control and agency over their environment. When faced with the uncontrollable nature of climate change, people often embrace conspiracy theories to regain that sense of control. Notably, recent psychological research has shifted focus from macro-level conspiracy beliefs, like climate change, to micro-level beliefs concerning local natural disasters.

The first psychological study of this kind looked at a major tornado outbreak in the US midwest in 2019. Researchers found that people more affected by the outbreak were more likely to believe the tornadoes were controlled by the government. Importantly, this belief was explained by the fact that those affected by the tornadoes felt like they had no control over their own life.

Tornado aftermath in Dayton, Ohio, May 2019. Tornadoes killed 42 in the US that year. CiEll / shutterstock

Building on these initial findings, another study asked participants to imagine living in a fictional country called Nebuloria. Half were told that natural disasters might occur soon, prompting them to take precautions for their safety, while the others were told that such disasters were rare and that there was no need to worry.

Participants were then asked about various conspiracy beliefs, such as whether the contrails left by planes Nebuloria were “evidence of weather manipulation”. Results showed those in the high-risk scenario were more likely to endorse conspiracy beliefs.

Notably, what explained this increase in conspiracy beliefs was the fact that high-risk participants felt a sense of existential threat. This suggests that when people feel vulnerable due to environmental risks, they turn to conspiracies to regain control, even if the threats are beyond their reach.

A self-perpetuating cycle

It might seem intuitive that if you don’t believe in something, you won’t act as though it were true. Thus, if you don’t believe that climate change is true you are not going to act as if it is. Indeed, a large and growing amount of psychological research bears this out.

The more that people ascribe to climate-related conspiracy beliefs the less likely they are to believe in the scientific consensus of human-made climate change, the less likely they are to have any pro-environmental concern, and the less likely they are to trust in the scientists that produce the evidence.

These beliefs do not remain abstract. The more that people believe in climate conspiracy theories, the less likely they are to take action to mitigate climate change. Research has shown that merely exposing people to climate change conspiracies is sufficient to decrease their desire to sign a petition to support pro-environmental policies.

This has serious implications. First, if people don’t believe in climate change, they won’t take action, accelerating its progression. Second, the more that climate change accelerates, the more frequent natural disasters become. As we’ve seen, an increase in natural disasters leads to a rise in conspiracy beliefs, creating a harmful and self-perpetuating cycle.

Research shows that natural disasters can fuel conspiratorial thinking about unrelated events, which harms democratic engagement, public health and social cohesion. In short, climate-based conspiracy theories can have wide-ranging negative effects beyond climate-related matters.

What can be done?

There are reasons to be hopeful that certain interventions that foster analytical thinking or a critical mindset can reduce conspiracy beliefs. For example, exposing people to scientific reasoning that challenged the assumptions behind COVID-19 conspiracies significantly reduced their belief in those conspiracy theories. Also, a better use of resources and skills to cope with natural disasters can reduce conspiracy theories.

If we don’t act on climate change, the rise in natural disasters will likely lead to more conspiracy theories. The stakes are high, but with thoughtful interventions, we can break this harmful cycle.

Read the full piece on The Conversation:  https://theconversation.com/why-might-people-believe-in-human-made-hurricanes-two-conspiracy-theory-psychologists-explain-241098

by Darel Cookson, Daniel Jolley, Rachel Povey and Robert Dempsey, written for the Conversation.

Older people may be more vulnerable to COVID, but in the UK it’s the young that are now driving the pandemic. Last month, school-age children in Britain were 15 times more likely than people over 80 to have the coronavirus.

Leaving young people unvaccinated partly explains why cases have been so high in this group. This is why many countries are now offering COVID jabs to children. In the UK, all 12 to 15-year-olds are being offered a first vaccine dose. Some countries – such as the US and Israel – are offering COVID vaccines to children aged five and over.

Of course, with younger children, it’s their parents that decide whether they get the jab – and vaccine hesitancy can be a problem. In a recent US poll, three in ten parents said they would definitely not vaccinate their child against COVID. Concerns about side-effects or the perceived lower risk of COVID to kids may explain this. However, anti-vaccine conspiracy theories may also be playing a role.

We know that anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs can be a barrier to vaccine uptake. A 2014 study showed that British parents exposed to anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, when asked to imagine that they had a fictional eight-month-old, were less likely to get that child vaccinated. Also, a more recent study across 24 countries demonstrated that anti-vaccine attitudes were highest among those who were also high in conspiratorial thinking.

Once COVID vaccines started being developed, it didn’t take long for specific conspiracy theories about them to appear – for instance that they contain microchips or make people infertile. Research has shown that believing in such theories is associated with reduced intentions to receive a COVID vaccine. It’s therefore highly plausible that believing in COVID conspiracies could prevent parents from wanting to vaccinate their children against the coronavirus.

Correcting conspiracies

Our research has looked at how to dissuade parents from believing in conspiracy theories that might prevent them from vaccinating their children – which is particularly relevant now that COVID vaccines are being offered to under-16s in many countries.

Past research has shown that people are influenced by the perceived beliefs and behaviours of other people – what are known as “social norms”. But these perceptions are often inaccurate, which can lead to people shaping their behaviour to fit a misperceived norm.

However, we didn’t know whether this was true specifically when it came to conspiracy theories. So as a first step, we explored whether there’s a link between perceived social norms and conspiracy beliefs among British parents.

Our finding backed up earlier research. Parents in the UK overestimated how much other British parents endorsed anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. And, as before, the more people believed that others believed these conspiracy theories, the more strongly they tended to believe themselves.

Knowing this, we then attempted to lower parents’ belief in anti-vaccine conspiracy theories by correcting their overestimation of what other parents think. We did this using the Social Norms Approach, a simple technique that works by correcting misperceptions – for example, by giving people feedback on how they misjudged the actual beliefs and behaviours of others. The aim of this is to recalibrate people’s perceptions, and so change their behaviour so that it aligns with what others actually think and do.

We tested this approach on a sample of British parents of young children. Parents first completed measures of their personal belief in anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and their intentions to vaccinate a fictional child. Next, they estimated to what extent “other UK parents” endorsed the same conspiracy theories and what their intentions to vaccinate would be.

Parents were then allocated to either receive feedback on their beliefs, which would correct any misperceptions of other parents’ conspiracy beliefs, or no feedback. Immediately afterwards, participants were again asked about their anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs and intentions.

We found that correcting misconceptions reduced parents’ beliefs in anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. It also increased perceptions that other parents would vaccinate their children, which as a knock-on effect increased parents’ own intentions to have a child vaccinated.

A simple step to improve uptake

Our findings are the first to suggest that correcting inaccurate perceptions of what others think could be used to tackle anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs and so improve vaccine uptake – both among adults themselves and children that they make decisions for.

When talking with people who might be persuaded by anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, a practical step could be to highlight that conspiracy beliefs are not as commonplace as people might think. Showing that it’s far more usual to vaccinate rather than not vaccinate could also be persuasive.

With vaccination levels in children still being quite low in the UK while COVID cases remain high, this simple psychological technique could be an important tool for addressing vaccine hesitancy, and one that many people could easily have a go at trying.

Read the full piece on The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/how-to-dissuade-parents-from-believing-in-anti-vaxxer-conspiracy-theories-171781

Conspiracy theories can affect people’s beliefs and behaviours in significant ways. For example, they can influence decisions on important issues such as climate change and vaccination. Despite their importance, however, all of the existing research on conspiracy theories has been conducted with adults, and questionnaires to measure conspiracy beliefs have been designed only with adults in mind. Therefore, we do not currently know when and why conspiracy beliefs develop in young people, and how they change over time. This timely project – funded by the British Academy – has developed and validated a conspiracy beliefs questionnaire suitable for young people, called the Adolescent Conspiracy Beliefs Questionnaire (ACBQ).

We tested the ACBQ on a range of young people in the UK, allowing us to finalise 9 questions that measure young people’s belief in conspiracy theories. The ACBQ includes  questions such as “secret societies influence many political decisions” and “governments have deliberately spread diseases in certain groups of people”. Participants completing the scale are asked to respond to each statement on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). A higher mean score indicates a higher belief in conspiracy theories.

14 could be a peak age for believing in conspiracy theories

It was during the process of testing the ACBQ that we found that conspiracy theories flourished in teenage years. More specifically, we found that 14 is the age adolescents are most likely to start believing in conspiracy theories. We uncovered this by examining whether age group differences existed in conspiracy beliefs. In the second stage of testing the ACBQ – where we questioned 178 adolescents – we found as teenagers join Year 10 at age 14 (i.e. Key Stage 4 in the UK national curriculum), their conspiracy beliefs are higher than their younger counterparts. Learn more on this finding here.

Read the paper published in British Journal of Developmental Psychology (open-access)

Read the press release, or a longer piece in The i Paper

Download the 9-item ACBQ

Telecommunications companies, police officials, and media outlets worldwide have suggested that 5G coronavirus conspiracies have sparked a flurry of attacks on telecoms workers and infrastructure since the start of the pandemic.

Arson attacks and cases of criminal damage to masts, cabling and other telecoms equipment have been reported in over a dozen countries across the globe, from various places in Europe, to Canada, America, and New Zealand. In April, the BBC’s Newsbeat reported on accounts of harassment and violence, even murder threats, towards telecoms engineers in the UK, due to false theories suggesting that the emergence of the virus is connected to 5G.

Previous research has shown that conspiracy theories may be linked with violent intentions. To date, however, there have been no studies about why and when conspiracy beliefs may justify – and ignite – violence. Now, our research has addressed these gaps. The paper has been published in the British Journal of Social Psychology online today by myself and Dr Jenny Paterson.

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Investigating the psychological links

In our research, we explored the association between beliefs in 5G COVID-19 conspiracy theories and the justification and willingness to use violence in response to the alleged link between 5G and COVID-19.

Specifically, we assessed 601 UK participants’ levels of 5G COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, ‘state anger’ – which is temporary, short-lasting outbursts of anger, and levels of paranoia. Here, paranoia refers to participants’ belief that there is hostile intent towards them personally – as opposed to the conspiratorial belief that powerful organisations are harming society at large.

Additionally, participants were asked questions about whether they thought violence was a justified response to the alleged link between 5G mobile technology and COVID-19. Participants similarly stated how likely they would be to engage in such behaviours.

The findings revealed that belief in 5G COVID-19 conspiracy theories was positively correlated with state anger. In turn, this state anger was associated with a greater justification of violence in response to a supposed connection between 5G mobile technology and COVID-19.

Alongside this, the results highlighted a greater intent to engage in similar behaviours in the future in those who subscribed to conspiratorial beliefs. The associations between anger and violence were strongest for those who reported higher levels of paranoia.

Our research also indicates that these patterns are not specific to 5G conspiratorial beliefs: general conspiracy theorising was linked to justification and willingness to engage in violent behaviour more generally because such theorising was associated with increased state anger. Furthermore, the link between this conspiratorial induced anger was most strongly associated with the justification of violence for participants who were most paranoid.

In sum, our novel findings extend our understanding and provide the first empirical link between 5G COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and violent reactions, alongside uncovering why (anger) and when (paranoia) conspiracy beliefs may justify the use of violence.

You can read our paper here (freely accessible) and read more about the research here.

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by Daniel Jolley and Pia Lamberty, written for the Conversation.

The novel coronavirus continues to spread around the world, with new cases being reported all the time. Spreading just as fast, it seems, are conspiracy theories that claim powerful actors are plotting something sinister to do with the virus. Our research into medical conspiracy theories shows that this has the potential to be just as dangerous for societies as the outbreak itself.

One conspiracy theory proposes that the coronavirus is actually a bio-weapon engineered by the CIA as a way to wage war on China. Others are convinced that the UK and US governments introduced the coronavirus as a way to make money from a potential vaccine. Some people even suggest that Bill Gates is sponsoring the coronavirus.

Although many of these conspiracy theories seem far-fetched, the belief that evil powers are pursuing a secret plan is widespread in every society. Often these relate to health. A large 2019 YouGov poll found 16% of respondents in Spain believe that HIV was created and spread around the world on purpose by a secret group or organisation. And 27% of French and 12% of British respondents were convinced that “the truth about the harmful effects of vaccines is being deliberately hidden from the public”.

The spread of fake news and conspiracy theories around the coronavirus is such a significant problem that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has created a “myth busters” webpage to try and tackle them.

Read the full piece on The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-is-a-breeding-ground-for-conspiracy-theories-heres-why-thats-serious-problem-132489  

by Daniel Jolley and Pia Lamberty, written for the Conversation.

The novel coronavirus continues to spread around the world, with new cases being reported all the time. Spreading just as fast, it seems, are conspiracy theories that claim powerful actors are plotting something sinister to do with the virus. Our research into medical conspiracy theories shows that this has the potential to be just as dangerous for societies as the outbreak itself.

One conspiracy theory proposes that the coronavirus is actually a bio-weapon engineered by the CIA as a way to wage war on China. Others are convinced that the UK and US governments introduced the coronavirus as a way to make money from a potential vaccine. Some people even suggest that Bill Gates is sponsoring the coronavirus.

Although many of these conspiracy theories seem far-fetched, the belief that evil powers are pursuing a secret plan is widespread in every society. Often these relate to health. A large 2019 YouGov poll found 16% of respondents in Spain believe that HIV was created and spread around the world on purpose by a secret group or organisation. And 27% of French and 12% of British respondents were convinced that “the truth about the harmful effects of vaccines is being deliberately hidden from the public”.

The spread of fake news and conspiracy theories around the coronavirus is such a significant problem that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has created a “myth busters” webpage to try and tackle them.

Read the full piece on The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-is-a-breeding-ground-for-conspiracy-theories-heres-why-thats-serious-problem-132489