Category Archives: Social psychology

How poor sleep could fuel belief in conspiracy theories

Posted on August 7, 2025 by Daniel Jolley

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 … Continue reading →

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Bullying, power and control: why people believe in conspiracy theories and how to respond

Posted on March 1, 2025 by Daniel Jolley

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 … Continue reading →

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How conspiracy theories can affect the communities they attack

Posted on February 1, 2025 by Daniel Jolley

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 … Continue reading →

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How to talk to someone about conspiracy theories in five simple steps

Posted on January 1, 2025 by Daniel Jolley

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, … Continue reading →

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Why might people believe in human-made hurricanes? Two conspiracy theory psychologists explain

Posted on December 20, 2024 by Daniel Jolley

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, … Continue reading →

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How to dissuade parents from believing in anti-vaxxer conspiracy theories

Posted on February 22, 2022 by Daniel Jolley

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Social psychology, What's the harm | 3 Comments

Introducing the Adolescent Conspiracy Beliefs Questionnaire (ACBQ)

Posted on February 11, 2021 by Daniel Jolley

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Social psychology | 8 Comments

5G COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and support for violence

Posted on June 22, 2020 by Daniel Jolley

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, … Continue reading →

Posted in Social psychology, What's the harm | 3 Comments

Coronavirus is a breeding ground for conspiracy theories – here’s why that’s a serious problem

Posted on February 28, 2020 by Daniel Jolley

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Social psychology, What's the harm | 4 Comments

50 years today – 20th July 1969 – we landed on the Moon. Or, did we?

Posted on July 20, 2019 by Daniel Jolley

Popular conspiracy theories propose the moon landing was a hoax and the footage recorded in a Hollywood studio. An explanation for why could be that at the time, the Americans had not yet developed a safe way to get a … Continue reading →

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