Dr Daniel Jolley
@drdanieljolley.bsky.social
Social psychologist. Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham @notts-psych.bsky.social. Expert in the psychology of conspiracy theories. Associate Editor at BJSP and JASP.
a clear and concise writeup from @drdanieljolley.bsky.social to the UK parliament on #conspiracytheories and how to spot them. also includes some evidence based approaches and limitations. post.parliament.uk/conspiracy-t...
Conspiracy theories: What they are and how to spot them
Conspiracy theories can have social and political consequences, but why do people believe them and what conversational techniques work to address them?
post.parliament.uk
Notts Psych Pod Series 3 recording has begun... watch this space! www.nottingham.ac.uk/psychology/o...
Conspiracy theories: What they are and how to spot them Conspiracy theories can have social and political consequences, but why do people believe them and what conversational techniques work to address them? post.parliament.uk/conspiracy-t...
Conspiracy theories: What they are and how to spot them
Conspiracy theories can have social and political consequences, but why do people believe them and what conversational techniques work to address them?
post.parliament.uk
Fantastic talks and posters at our #PGRConference today! Huge congratulations to the runners-up and winners of the Open Research, Best Poster, and Best Talk awards!
Thousands of University of Nottingham staff told they are at risk of redundancy
Thousands of University of Nottingham staff told they are at risk of redundancy
Institution says it could run out of money by 2031 and wants to cut more than 600 academic and support posts Thousands of staff at the University of Nottingham have been told to prepare for redundancy as part of swingeing financial cuts that academics say will harm the institution’s future. The university’s administration sent letters to 2,700 staff on Tuesday, notifying them their role was at risk of redundancy after its leadership said it could run out of money by 2031. Continue reading...
theguardian.com
Now in front of the paywall- me spiraling about how we have lots of useful interventions against misinformation but most of them don't work when tech isn't willing to implement them and the misinformation is coming from the people currently in charge of public health thebulletin.org/premium/2026...
How to counter health misinformation when it's coming from the top
Health misinformation is now being generated and spread by those in charge of the United States’ public health system. Multiple interventions against health misinformation have been identified and are...
thebulletin.org
🧵 3 papers by me & my team Ullrich Ecker Fabio Carrella Emily Spearing Almog Simchon ask an urgent question: if you tell people they're being manipulated by AI — deepfakes, AI-written articles, microtargeted ads — is the manipulation defanged? Thread 👇 1/10
What do laypeople think causes conspiracy beliefs? New research suggests that people tend to attribute these beliefs most strongly to influence from social media and misinformation. Read more in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin: https://ow.ly/HSrZ50YioS5
🔔 Registration closing soon! Sign up for “Engaging with Conspiracy Theories, Fostering Democracy” before Monday 23rd March. Details below 👇
TaCT-FoRSED Project@tact-forsed.bsky.social · 5mo agoRegistration is now open for our conference @charlesuni.cuni.cz in Prague (9–10 April 2026)! Sign up by 23rd March and join us to explore conspiracy theories & democracy. Details: tact-forsed.eu/2026/03/05/r... #AcademicConference #ConspiracyTheories #Disinformation #DemocraticResilience
How can counterfactual thinking help tackle conspiracy theories? The short (~3 minute) answer is in our @spspnews.bsky.social blog post (with @kwinter.bsky.social, @kaiepstude.bsky.social, and Bob Fennis): spsp.org/news/charact... 1/2
How “What If” Thinking Can Reduce Engagement with Conspiracy Theories | SPSP
Considering how things could have gone differently may reduce engagement with conspiracy theories.
spsp.org
A new study highlights the experiences of men who left toxic online spaces.
Men can get out of the manosphere. Here’s what former incels say about why they left
theconversation.com
certainty and belonging noted as key needs for individuals swindled into cults www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...
Young people particularly vulnerable to cults post-COVID
According to one of Australia's leading cult experts, the number of young adults between 17 and 25 years old joining cults since COVID is increasing at an alarming rate.
abc.net.au
Today’s post is by Brady Wagoner, (University of Copenhagen and Aalborg University). With Maja Sødinge Jørgensen and Kirstine Pahuus he published a article in Current Opinion in Psychology: “Conspiracy theories through the lens of collective memory”. #philsky #philsky imperfectcognitions....
This is what happens when the Secretary of HHS rejects science and adopts conspiracy theories. And, unless we stop it, epidemics could become much worse. www.uchealth.org/today/is-mea...
Measles hit decades-high levels last year, and this dangerous, highly contagious virus is surging again
Measles is back and highly contagious. Learn about the 2025–26 spikes, the danger for young children and how vaccines prevent severe illness.
uchealth.org
What do laypeople think causes conspiracy beliefs? We (@kaiepstude.bsky.social, Bob Fennis, and I) look at this and other questions in a new PSPB paper combining six correlational studies and a qualitative one. Read the open-access paper here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... A 🧵 1/5
Kent Psychology is hiring 🎓We have two posts: 1) open area and 2) cog neuro. More details can be found here: jobs.kent.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx... Feel free to reach out with questions!
Job Opportunity at the University of Kent: Lecturer in Psychology
The School of Psychology is seeking to appoint a Lecturer in Psychology and a Lecturer in Psychology focusing on Cognition and Neuroscience to join a collegial, supportive, and intellectually vibrant...
jobs.kent.ac.uk
“Law and Order, Magical Spirits, and False Flag Operations: On the Co-Occurrence of Authoritarianism, Spirituality, and Conspiracy Beliefs and Their Association with Support of Violent Protests” in Political Psychology onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Law and order, magical spirits, and false flag operations: On the co‐occurrence of authoritarianism, spirituality, and conspiracy beliefs and their association with support of violent protests
In Western democracies, commentators have noted an unprecedented diversity in protest movements opposing ecological and health regulations, including traditional right-wing authoritarians alongside c...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
nice to be part of this multidisciplinary and international team led by Justin Phillips (nz), @timgravelle.bsky.social (ca), @acarson.bsky.social & me investigating whether facebook's 3rd party fact-checking increases #conspiracybelief TLDR; it doesn't really. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
nice piece on narcissism and conspiracy belief by @tylorcos.bsky.social theconversation.com/why-do-educa...
Why do educated people fall for conspiracy theories? It could be narcissism
New research shows highly educated people are just as likely to believe conspiracies as those with less education if they have these psychological traits.
theconversation.com
Great response to our CfP! Engaging with Conspiracy Theories, Fostering Democracy conference at @charlesuni.cuni.cz. The scientific committee has met and selected abstracts: tact-forsed.eu/2025/12/16/e... Looking forward to it😀 #AcademicConference #ConspiracyTheories #DemocraticResilience
Engaging with Conspiracy Theories, Fostering Democracy Conference: List of Abstracts published. - TaCT-FoRSED
We are delighted by the enthusiastic response to our recent call for papers for the Engaging with Conspiracy Theories, Fostering Democracy conference we will
tact-forsed.eu
Longitudinal analysis shows possible distinct patterns of associations between conspiracy beliefs and either institutional distrust or the sense of precarity findings here suggest b/w person associations over time, rather than w/i changes bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Does Being Confronted With Internal Attributions for an Ingroup’s Sufferings Foster the Endorsement of Conspiracy Theories? New in social psychology, from @kenzonera.bsky.social, Karen Douglas, @paulbertin.bsky.social, and @olivierklein.bsky.social doi.org/10.1525/coll...
Does Being Confronted With Internal Attributions for an Ingroup’s Sufferings Foster the Endorsement of Conspiracy Theories?
Conspiracy theories are often viewed as a means to externally attribute ingroup sufferings by blaming them on the actions of powerful groups. Building on this assumption, we tested the hypothesis that...
doi.org
We are really proud of our #NottsPsychPod team – incredible numbers in the Spotify 2025 wrapped: -18 countries reached -Our podcast growth outpaces 90% of other shows -Fans listened for longer than 77% of other shows -More shares than 83% of other shows www.nottingham.ac.uk/psychology/o...
#Research in Political Psychology (@wiley.com) investigated the link between believing in conspiracy theories and economic anxiety. A group of academics led by Magdalena Adamus (Masaryk University 🇨🇿) assessed our Round 10 (2020-22) #data to explore whether these is an association.
All you'll feel is doom and gloom: Multiple perspectives on the associations between economic anxiety and conspiracy beliefs
The article investigates whether and how adherence to conspiracy beliefs (CBs) about COVID-19 pandemic might be associated with (and cause) economic anxiety over various cultural settings and time.…
buff.ly
Are people who believe in #conspiracy theories mentally ill? #conspiracytheories #psychology #pathology #mentalillness
New paper out in @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social ! We (@kwinter.bsky.social, @kaiepstude.bsky.social , Bob Fennis and I) found that encouraging counterfactual thinking reduces engagement with conspiracy theories (i.e., clicks on, and reading times for, conspiracy articles). A 🧵 1/n
📢 Final call for papers! Engaging with Conspiracy Theories, Fostering Democracy — Prague, 9–10 Apr 2026. Submit by THIS FRIDAY 5 Dec 2025! Topics: #ConspiracyTheories, #Disinformation, #Democracy and more! 👉👉 tact-forsed.eu/2025/10/07/c.... #AcademicConference
Call for papers for International Conference organised by TaCT-FoRSED! - TaCT-FoRSED
* CALL FOR PAPERS * Deadline: December 5th, 2025 *
tact-forsed.eu
🚨 New paper out in the European Journal of Social Psychology! Across one study using aggregated nation-level data and four preregistered experiments, we examined how freedom of speech within a society influences belief in conspiracy theories.
The Impact of Freedom of Speech on Conspiracy Beliefs
Conspiracy beliefs are often portrayed as a threat to democracies. However, less is known about the extent to which the state of democracy may affect conspiracy beliefs. Hence, we investigated the im...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Missed Series 2 of Notts Psych Pod? 🎧 Catch up now, wherever you get your podcasts: 👉 creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/... Each series explores how psychology connects with real-world issues — from neurodiversity to community engagement — putting people at the centre of research.
Why are some people more prone to believe in conspiracy theories? Part of the answer may lie in metacognition, i.e., the ability to correctly estimate one's own knowledge about topics. -> New paper with @kwinter.bsky.social, @kaisassenberg.bsky.social & Helen Fischer 🔗 doi.org/10.1080/2044...
“Knowing what I don’t know” – belief in conspiracy theories relates to lower metacognitive sensitivity: a signal detection theoretic approach
Beliefs in conspiracy theories are seemingly hard to dispute through facts. Researchers have partly attributed this resistance to certain information processing styles that are associated with cons...
doi.org