John Kerr
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scicomguy.bsky.social
John Kerr
@scicomguy.bsky.social
Science Lead at the Public Health Communication Centre Aotearoa & Otago Uni. Researching comms and comms-ing research. Psychology, risk, and media.
Reposted by John Kerr
tldr: we found very limited evidence for distress subsequently increasing belief in conspiracy theories using a longitudinal survey sampling participants 7 times over ~6 months - and no evidence for belief in conspiracy theories worsening distress over time
New research challenges the idea of a ‘vicious cycle’ between psychological distress and conspiracy beliefs
One prominent theory says conspiracy beliefs are triggered by elevated distress. But a new study finds limited evidence to support this claim.
theconversation.com
October 12, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Great news! Congrats to you both!
October 2, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Not disagreeing, but genuinely ignorant here -- a) what is the problem with 'sovereign citizen' as a broad label, and b) what is the best language to describe people with these kinds of beliefs, it feels relevant to the reporting on this story.
August 27, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Thanks for your interest in the article, and I'm sorry it didn't address the points that you wanted it to. The underlying article was about comparing *broad strategic approaches* among island nations.
July 23, 2025 at 9:34 PM