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.social-engineer.com

- 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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Adams, G., O’Brien, L. T., & Nelson, J. C. (2006). Perceptions of racism in Hurricane Katrina: A liberation psychology analysis. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 6, 215–235.

Bilewicz, M., Winiewski, M., Kofta, M., & Wójcik, A. (2013). Harmful ideas: The structure and consequences of antiSemitic beliefs in Poland. Political Psychology, 34, 821–839.

Bost, P. R., & Prunier, S. G. (2013). Rationality in conspiracy beliefs: The role of perceived motive. Psychological Reports, 113, 118–128

Crocker, J., Luhtanen, R., Broadnax, S., & Blaine, B. E. (1999). Belief in U.S. government conspiracies against Blacks among Black and White college students: Powerlessness or system blame? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 941–953.

Dieguez, S., Wagner-Egger, P., & Gauvrit, N. (2015). Nothing happens by accident, or does it? A low prior for randomness does not explain belief in conspiracy theories. Psychological Science, 26, 1762–1770.

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DiFonzo, N., Bordia, P., & Rosnow, R. L. (1994). Reining in rumors. Organizational Dynamics, 23(1), 47–62. https://doi. org/10.1016/0090-2616(94)90087-6

Douglas, K. M., & Leite, A. C. (2017). Suspicion in the workplace: Organizational conspiracy theories and workrelated outcomes. British Journal of Psychology, 108, 486–506.

Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2008). The hidden impact of conspiracy theories: Perceived and actual impact of theories surrounding the death of Princess Diana. Journal of Social Psychology, 148, 210–221.

Douglas, K. M., Sutton, R. M., & Cichocka, A. (2017). The psychology of conspiracy theories. Current directions in psychological science, 26(6), 538-542.

Douglas, K. M., Sutton, R. M., Callan, M. J., Dawtry, R. J., & Harvey, A. J. (2016). Someone is pulling the strings: Hypersensitive agency detection and belief in conspiracy theories. Thinking & Reasoning, 22, 57–77.

Douglas, K. M., Uscinski, J. E., Sutton, R. M., Cichocka, A., Nefes, T., Ang, C. S., & Deravi, F. (2019). Understanding conspiracy theories. Political psychology, 40, 3-35.

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Kim, M., & Cao, X. (2016). The impact of exposure to media messages promoting government conspiracy theories on distrust in the government: Evidence from a two-stage randomized experiment. International Journal of Communication, 10(2016), 3808–3827. Retrieved from http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/5127

Klein, C., Clutton, P., & Dunn, A. G. (2018). Pathways to conspiracy: The social and linguistic precursors of involvement in Reddit’s conspiracy theory forum. Retrieved frompsyarxiv.com/8vesf

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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Uscinski, J. E., & Parent, J. M. (2014). American conspiracy theories. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Uscinski, J. E., Klofstad, C., & Atkinson, M. D. (2016). What drives conspiratorial beliefs? The role of informational cues and predispositions. Political Research Quarterly, 69, 57–71.

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.

van Prooijen, J.-W., & Jostmann, N. B. (2013). Belief in conspiracy theories: The influence of uncertainty and perceived morality. European Journal of Social Psychology, 43, 109–115.

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