The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories

Bernoulli Lecture for the Behavioral Sciences by Prof. Dr. Karen Douglas, University of Kent.
The Lecture is free and open to the public.

Karen Douglas is a Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Kent, UK. She is currently the director of the ERC-funded project “CONSPIRACY_FX – Consequences of conspiracy theories“. Prof. Douglas studies the psychology of conspiracy theories. Her research examines why conspiracy theories appeal to so many people, and the consequences of conspiracy theories for individuals, groups, and society.

Conspiracy theories are abundant in social and political discourse and have serious consequences for individuals, groups and societies. However, psychological scientists have only started paying them close attention in the past 20 years. In this talk, I will underscore the importance of conspiracy theories as a topic of research in psychology. I will overview the literature on the psychology of conspiracy theories, using examples from my own research. I will showcase what psychologists know about why people believe in conspiracy theories, what their consequences are, and why people share them.

Please register to help us planning https://bernoulli.unibas.ch/en/

Bernoulli Lecture for the Behavioral Sciences
The Bernoulli Lectures for the Behavioral Sciences honor researchers who have contributed significantly to the development of the behavioral sciences, particularly in the fields of Psychology and Economics. The Bernoulli lectures are organized yearly by the Bernoulli Network for the Behavioral Sciences, a joint initiative of the Faculty of Psychology and the Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Basel, with the aim of fostering interdisciplinary dialogue in the behavioral sciences.