Although some conspiracy theories may be relatively innocuous, the proliferation of anti-vaccine and election conspiracy theories in recent years highlights the risks that certain conspiracy theories pose for both believers and the broader public. For example, U.S. political actors have used election conspiracy theories to push for the implementation of restrictive voting legislation that experts warn would disproportionately burden marginalized communities. Unfortunately, research on how to reduce beliefs in harmful conspiracy theories has yielded mixed results. In this talk, I suggest that the inconsistent findings may partially be the result of researchers using a one-size-fits-all approach to study and attempt to reduce individuals’ conspiracy theory beliefs. To address this issue, I propose a new research framework: “folk theories of conspiracy theories.” This framework draws from prior work in human-computer interaction and psychology on folk theories that finds people hold intuitive and incomplete models about how complex phenomena work. Similar to people’s understanding of complex technologies, I argue that conspiracy theorists differ in both the content and strength of their conspiracy theory beliefs, and more effective mitigation strategies would more closely target individual’s specific conspiracy theory beliefs and the cultural factors that contribute to these varying beliefs. To demonstrate the value of this approach, I present preliminary findings of a collaborative project I am leading on the multiple “folk theories” among believers of 2020 U.S. election conspiracy theories.

Bio:
Brian McKernan is a Research Assistant Professor and the co-director of the Human-Centered Computing and Design Lab in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University. His research interests include the design and study of innovative applications to strengthen reasoning, increase political transparency, combat harmful misinformation, and promote civic engagement. As a lead on the Illuminating Project, Brian studies and helps develop tools to monitor strategic communication efforts by political actors on social media. Brian also conducts research examining the cultural factors that contribute to beliefs in harmful conspiracy theories. Brian’s work has been published in such journals as Digital Journalism, Social Media + Society, Computers in Human Behavior, Games and Culture, and the American Journal of Cultural Sociology, among others.

Please click here to register.