A recent study, The Relationship between Conspiracy Theory Beliefs and Political Violence, conducted by Joanna Sterling, John Voelkel, Robb Willer, and Jan-Willem van Prooijen, and published on December 12, 2024, in the Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, offers key insights. The researchers explored the connection between belief in conspiracy theories and support for political violence, […]
Frosty pine trees rim the edge of an icy lake. Snow is falling; spa music plays in the background. A gray-haired man with a pleasant face stands beside the lake. He begins to undress. He is going swimming, he explains, to demonstrate his faith, and his opposition to science, to technology, to modernity. “I don’t […]
At a breezy bush camp in the Kimberley, Raquel Teixeira is gazing into a mirror seeking a moment of truth. She inhales deeply and smiles quietly. "There's change coming, and it's going to be huge," she says. Raquel is among a growing number of people embracing a personalised set of new age spiritual practices and […]
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 […]
On Oct. 4 at 2:20 p.m. EDT, the zombie apocalypse was supposed to begin, not with a bang, but with an unpleasant screeching sound coming from every phone in the United States. At that precise moment, the multiyear plans of shadowy elites would finally become reality, and by using 5G mobile networks and the emergency […]
People can be prone to believe in conspiracy theories due to a combination of personality traits and motivations, including relying strongly on their intuition, feeling a sense of antagonism and superiority toward others, and perceiving threats in their environment, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. The results of the study paint a […]
There is an open question among pundits and researchers: Do more Americans believe in conspiracy theories now than ever before? But as a scholar of conspiracy theories and their believers, I am concerned that focusing on how many Americans believe conspiracy theories can distract from their dangers. Even if most people dismiss conspiracy theories or […]
