Introduction

This past year, COVID-19 and the U.S. elections have provided fertile ground for conspiracy theories—with sometimes disastrous consequences. Karen Douglas, PhD, of the University of Kent in the United Kingdom, discusses psychological research on how conspiracy theories start, why they persist, who is most likely to believe them and whether there is any way to combat them effectively.

Are you enjoying Speaking of Psychology? We’d love to know what you think of the podcast, what you would change about it, and what you’d like to hear more of. Please take our listener survey at www.apa.org/podcastsurvey.

Links Karen Douglas, PhD APA Monitor on Psychology Music Futuristic Suspense Ambience by tyops via freesound.org

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices