Why do people believe in conspiracy theories? New research has highlighted an important factor: spite. Conspiracy theories—alternative explanations for major events that reject well-evidenced explanations in favor of implausible, illogical, or fantastical secret plots—have surged in popularity, particularly in times…[Continue Reading...]
Domestic abuse isn’t always physical. In fact, coercive behaviour is often at its heart. According to the latest statistics, there were 43,774 recorded offences of coercive control in England and Wales in the year ending March 2023 – a significant…[Continue Reading...]
We live in an era where information is more accessible than ever before. Paradoxically, this hasn’t made us wiser—it’s made us more vulnerable to misinformation. Pseudoscience, once confined to the fringes, now floods our social media feeds, seeps into our…[Continue Reading...]
Fostering critical thinking can be an effective method to reduce people’s tendency to believe in conspiracy theories, an experimental study by University College Cork (UCC) psychologists has found. The study is the first to directly compare methods used to reduce…[Continue Reading...]
This post is part two of a two-part series. The previous post in this series examined the Adaptive Conspiracism Hypothesis (Van Prooijen and Van Vugt, 2018). According to this perspective, the tendency to engage in conspiracy thinking is innate in…[Continue Reading...]
Professional cult deprogrammer Rick Alan Ross joins WIRED to answer the internet’s burning questions about cults. What makes a cult a cult exactly? What are some signs you’re in one? How do cults differ from religions? Can a family be…[Continue Reading...]
Do you believe in ghosts or paranormal activity? Professor Chris French is keen to know why. His research focus is on “anomalistic psychology” – to understand why people believe in events which are not supported by scientific evidence. Anomalistic psychology…[Continue Reading...]
Ultra-Orthodox Jews (Haredim) who decide to leave the community and disaffiliate are at a stressful crossroads in their life. Many leave close-knit communities for an initially lonely path in a world they may not be very familiar with. One of…[Continue Reading...]
Multilevel marketing (MLM) programs are a legitimate way of selling products – think Amway, Tupperware and Mary Kay. They become illegal pyramid schemes when the emphasis is on recruiting new distributors rather than actually selling products. Most participants in pyramid…[Continue Reading...]
Conspiracy theories and extreme misogyny are in danger of becoming mainstream in the UK, a report from the Government's former counter-extremism tsar warns. Extremist narratives are becoming normalised among all age groups thanks to a 'growing appetite for conspiracy theories',…[Continue Reading...]
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