Monthly Archives: May 2016

Are You Serious?

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Rob Brotherton

I’ve posted here before about why measuring belief in conspiracy theories can be tricky. Recently I was invited to visit University of Cambridge’s Conspiracy and Democracy project and the issue of measuring belief came up again, particularly the question of … Continue reading →

Posted in Events, Personality | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Intention Seekers: The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories About MS804

Posted on May 22, 2016 by Rob Brotherton

I wrote a post over at Psychology Today on the psychology behind conspiracy theories about airline disasters like the disappearance of MH370, and more recently, MS804. Part of the appeal, according to a handful of recent studies, may be how … Continue reading →

Posted in Biases & heuristics, Intentionality bias, World events | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Stress and belief in conspiracy theories

Posted on May 13, 2016 by Daniel Jolley

A recent a piece of research published by Viren Swami and colleagues has uncovered a link between feeling stressed and belief in conspiracy theories. Swami and colleagues gathered responses from over 400 people, where the responders completed various measures, such … Continue reading →

Posted in Personality, Social psychology, What's the harm, World events | Tagged , , | 7 Comments