How to Score High on the Conspiratorial Thinking Test

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Most of us are prone to conspiratorial thinking given the right conditions. But some people score highly on all three and can group up, find one another in groups where everyone strongly agrees with these statements. Once you're within that conspiracy, it dens back out again with new beliefs, attitudes and values. This episode we will look at annie sternisko's work which explores how a person gets funneled into a particular conspiracy theory - and then what happens afterward.

When we talk about conspiracy theories we tend to focus on what people believe instead of why, and, more importantly, why they believe those things and not other things. In this episode, we sit down with two psychologists working to change that, and in addition, change the term itself from conspiracy theory to conspiracy narrative, which more accurately describes what makes any one conspiracy appealing enough to form a community around it and in rare cases result in collective action.