Ep. 209 - The Doctor Is In Series - The TRUTH Behind Conspiracy Theories
The Social-Engineer Podcast
The Cost of Conspiracy
It rarely is ever actually about the conspiracy. It's usually the underlying motive of why we want to believe it. People who have these conspiracy beliefs, they do feel a sense of powerlessness in their everyday life. But it's very easy to have conspiracy theories over somebody else's government.
Welcome to the Social-Engineer Podcast: The Doctor Is In Series – where we will discuss understandings and developments in the field of psychology.
In today’s episode, Chris and Abbie are discussing: Conspiracy theories. They will talk about what makes a Conspiracy Theory and why we believe them. [May 1, 2023]
00:00 - Intro
00:17 - Dr. Abbie Maroño Intro
00:59 - Intro Links
- Social-Engineer.com - http://www.social-engineer.com/
- Managed Voice Phishing - https://www.social-engineer.com/services/vishing-service/
- Managed Email Phishing - https://www.social-engineer.com/services/se-phishing-service/
- Adversarial Simulations - https://www.social-engineer.com/services/social-engineering-penetration-test/
- Social-Engineer channel on SLACK - https://social-engineering-hq.slack.com/ssb
- CLUTCH - http://www.pro-rock.com/
- innocentlivesfoundation.org - http://www.innocentlivesfoundation.org/
04:45 - The Topic of the Day: The TRUTH Behind Conspiracy Theories
05:54 - What is a Conspiracy Theory?
07:39 - What's the harm?
10:20 - WHY???
11:17 - Pattern Seekers
13:15 - Cognitive Closure
17:04 - The Role of Critical Thinking
19:18 - An Existential Element
20:41 - Don't Forget the Lizards!
22:35 - What about Bigfoot?
24:30 - Escapism
30:15 - Reading the Emotions
32:29 - Social Motive
33:31 - Emotions vs Critical Thinking
36:42 - Prove Me Wrong!
39:09 - The Takeaway: Empathy
40:57 - Wrap Up & Outro
- www.innocentlivesfoundation.org
Find us online:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/abbiejmarono
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dr-abbie-maroño-phd-35ab2611a
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/humanhacker
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/christopherhadnagy
References:
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Bost, P. R., & Prunier, S. G. (2013). Rationality in conspiracy beliefs: The role of perceived motive. Psychological Reports, 113, 118–128
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Nefes, T. S. (2017). The impacts of the Turkish Government’s “interest rate lobby” theory about the Gezi Park Protests. Social Movement Studies, 16(5), 610–622. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2017.1319269
Nera, K., Pantazi, M., & Klein, O. (2018). “These are just stories, Mulder”: Exposure to conspiracist fiction does not produce narrative persuasion. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00684
Swift, A. (2013). Majority in U.S. still believe JFK killed in a conspiracy. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/ poll/165893/majority-believe-jfk-killed-conspiracy.aspx
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van Prooijen, J.-W., & Acker, M. (2015). The influence of control on belief in conspiracy theories: Conceptual and applied extensions. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 29, 753–761.
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