Information about previous and upcoming CONSPIRACY_FX events will be added to this page.
Small Group Meeting on the Consequences of Conspiracy Theories
We will be hosting this event on the 28th and 29th June 2024. All details can be found here.
CONSPIRACY_FX Writing Retreat
In September 2023, we hosted our second residential workshop, which bought together staff and students from the CONSPIRACY_FX project, PSYPOL project, PolPsych_Kent lab and visitors from the Universities of Nottingham, Cambridge and the Université Libre de Bruxelles. We spend three days together in the beautiful Kent countryside to discuss our ongoing research, share ideas and receive feedback on our project.
Guest Speaker
On Thursday 14th September 2023, the CONSPIRACY_FX team hosted Dr Kenzo Nera, who gave a talk as part of our seminar series. Kenzo is a postdoctoral researcher at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, working with Professor Olivier Klein on the psychology of conspiracy theories. Kenzo has already published several influential articles on this topic.
The title of the talk was:
“They Want to Silence Us!” How Conspiracy Theory Believers Cope with Stigmatisation
Abstract:
Conspiracy theories have gathered unprecedented attention in recent years. Everyone has heard about “conspiracy theories” in the general public, and scientific research on the topic is growing exponentially. In addition, many initiatives are being developed to reduce the spread and appeal of conspiracy theories. However, “conspiracy theorists” tend to perceive criticisms of their beliefs as censorships of voices challenging powerholders – and therefore, as a confirmation of their worldview. As a result, conspiracy believers are susceptible to reclaim the label “conspiracy theorist” and rally around this derogatory label. In this presentation, I will present works on the intertwined relationships between conspiracy beliefs, perceptions that conspiracy theorists are discriminated against, and identification with (fellow) conspiracy believers.
CONSPIRACY_FX Writing Retreat
The CONSPIRACY_FX team hosted our first residential team building and networking event in September 2022. We hired the amazing Zanzibar Hotel in St. Leonards and invited researchers from the University of Kent’s PSY-POL project and Political Psychology Lab, alongside academics from other institutions, to join us. We spent three days leading and being a part of scheduled discussions and research-orientated conversations, and gained important feedback on our research and writing in-progress. As you can see from the images below – the location was amazing. The event was extremely worthwhile, allowing all the researchers the space and time to reflect and write in an inspirational and supportive environment.
Twitter Q&A
On Thursday 14th July 2022, Post Doc Researcher Daniel Toribio-Florez took over the @CONSPIRACY_FX twitter feed to answer questions about #ConspiracyTheories.
Guest Speaker
Our first guest speaker Dr Dan Jolley from the University of Nottingham, visited us on Thursday 28th April 2022 to deliver a talk entitled “Exploring and addressing intergroup conspiracy theories”. Please see the abstract below.
Abstract:
Whilst many conspiracy theories are related to general beliefs about government, society or powerful people (e.g., the moon landing, climate change, COVID-19 pandemic), many other conspiracy theories have a clear intergroup context. In the psychological literature, findings such as a relationship between conspiracy beliefs and prejudice have been uncovered. However, less is understood about intergroup conspiracy theories’ broader impact and how such conspiracy beliefs can be reduced. In this talk, Dr Daniel Jolley will present new findings on the links between intergroup conspiracy beliefs and i) violent responses and ii) biased jury decision-making. In samples of Jewish participants, he will also show how perceiving conspiracy theories about their in-group as popular by outgroups can increase perceptions of threat and anger. With these consequences in mind, he will then discuss how intergroup contact can act as a tool to reduce conspiracy beliefs. Notably, he will show how the effect between contact and conspiracy beliefs are maintained even when controlling for prejudice, thus demonstrating another broad implication of intergroup contact.