School of Psychology

Experience Excellence Studying People


Michael Wood

Postgraduate Researcher

Research

Research interests

My research interests generally centre around the topic of conspiracy theories. How do conspiracy theories differ psychologically from more conventional explanations for events? Where do they come from, how do they spread, and how do they affect the communities in which they arise? My doctoral research will investigate these questions both in a laboratory setting and through examination of online conspiracy communities, which are fertile grounds for the growth of non-mainstream belief systems and alternative narratives of why the world is the way it is. I am also interested in cults, belief in the paranormal, automatism and the ideomotor effect, and recovered memory.

Thesis title

Understanding beliefs in conspiracy theories

Supervisor

Dr Karen Douglas

Funding

School of Psychology, University of Kent

 

 

 

School of Psychology - Keynes College, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NP

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Last Updated: 07/03/2013