Robert Brennan

Screenshot of the abstract for the article "If only I had not fallen down the rabbit hole: Counterfactual thinking reduces engagement with conspiracy theories" in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

New paper out in @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social !

We (@kwinter.bsky.social, @kaiepstude.bsky.social , Bob Fennis and I) found that encouraging counterfactual thinking reduces engagement with conspiracy theories (i.e., clicks on, and reading times for, conspiracy articles).

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new paper by Sean Westwood:

With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research

Stop Hungary’s Pride Ban – Defend LGBT+ Rights Now Police in Hungary questioned Géza Buzás-Hábel, organiser of Pécs Pride, as a criminal suspect – simply for holding a Pride march. The EU must act to defend equality, freedom, and human dignity. Add yo...

Police questioned Géza Buzás-Hábel, organiser of Pécs Pride, as a criminal suspect – just for holding Hungary’s only rural Pride. The EU must act now to defend equality and freedom. Sign & share! a.allout.org/s/P29lG/

How many people in Ireland believe in conspiracy theories? While the majority do not believe six prominent conspiracy theories, the level of support for some of these might raise a few eyebrows

While most of the Irish public do not believe six prominent conspiracy theories, the level of support for some of these might raise a few eyebrows. FuJo members @robraonain.bsky.social and Rabhya Mehrotra report data trends from 2024-Election in @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social
www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

While only a small minority of the Irish public believe six prominent #conspiracytheories to 'definitely be true', just under half are unsure or lean towards believing them. Our analysis also found higher levels of belief to be linked to greater trust in social media and messaging apps

How many people in Ireland believe in conspiracy theories? While the majority do not believe six prominent conspiracy theories, the level of support for some of these might raise a few eyebrows

How many people in Ireland believe in conspiracy theories? Analysis of the National Election and Democracy Study by @robraonain.bsky.social & Rabhya Mehrotra @fujomedia.bsky.social @dublincityuni.bsky.social www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

Despite heavy use of social media during Ireland’s last election, traditional journalism, like @rte.ie and newspapers, remain the most trusted sources. FuJo members @robraonain.bsky.social and Rabhya report data trends from the 2024 Post-General Election survey
Read full;
www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

Photo by Niall_Majury on iStock

What media sources did people use & trust before voting in 2024 General Election?
Piece by Dr Robert Brennan @robraonain.bsky.social and Rabhya Mehrotra @fujomedia.bsky.social for @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social.
Read here: launch.dcu.ie/4mOTfjg
#RTEBrainstorm

What media sources did people use & trust before voting in 2024? Here's what a new study found about the media Irish voters used and trusted when getting information ahead of last year's election

What media sources did people use & trust before voting in 2024 General Election? Analysis of the National Election and Democracy Study by @robraonain.bsky.social & Rabhya Mehrotra @fujomedia.bsky.social @dublincityuni.bsky.social www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

#socialpsychology #experimentalpsychology #psychologicalresearch #intergroup #emotions #intergroupharm #climatechange #fastfashion

Mean scores for perceived extent of harm in Studies 1, 2, and 3. Perceived extent of harm was manipulated as intended in Study 1 (left panel), Study 2 (middle panel), and Study 3 (right panel). Participants in the harm responsible and harm not responsible conditions perceived outgroup members as experiencing significantly more harm than did participants in the no harm condition. Note: Error bars represent ±1 SE. *** denotes p < .001; NS denotes non-significant.

Mean scores for sense of collective responsibility in Studies 1, 2, and 3. Sense of collective responsibility in Study 1 (left panel), Study 2 (middle panel), and Study 3 (right panel). Participants in the harm responsible condition felt that their ingroup was significantly more responsible for the harm experienced by outgroup members than did participants in the harm not responsible condition. Note: Error bars represent ±1 SE. *** denotes p < .001; ** denotes p < .005; * denotes p < .05; NS denotes non-significant.

Despite successful manipulation of key variables, our studies found no evidence of infrahumanization following harm. Our work casts doubt on prior claims in the field, and contributes to an ongoing debate on the validity of psychological theories of dehumanization in explaining urgent social issues.

Results of Study 3: Testing for infrahumanization following harm. The three regression models with emotion humanness as the predictor and emotion typicality for outgroup members (residents of Lagos) as the outcome are displayed. The small negative relationship between these variables did not differ between the three conditions. Note: Grey shading around the slope represents 95% CI.

Results of Study 3: Testing for negative affect when harmed. The three regression models with emotion valence as the predictor and emotion typicality for outgroup members (residents of Lagos) as the outcome are displayed. As predicted, a negative relationship emerged in both the harm responsible and harm not responsible conditions, with each found to differ significantly from the positive relationship that emerged in the no harm condition. Note: grey shading around the slope represents 95% CI.

The final study reused the climate change context, but with more sensitive continuous measures that captured participants’ own views of emotion humanness and valence. Again, post-harm infrahumanization did not replicate, and harmed outgroup members were seen as experiencing more negative emotions.

Results of Study 2. Mean emotion attributions by condition, emotion humanness, and emotion valence are displayed. We found no evidence that inducing a sense of collective responsibility for the harm experienced by textile workers leads participants to infrahumanize them. Converging with the results of Study 1, participants seemed to rate outgroup members as experiencing negative emotions more strongly when harm against them was made salient. Note: Error bars represent ±1 SE. Shared = emotions shared with other animals. *** denotes p < .001; * denotes p < .05; NS denotes non-significant.

Study 2 had a similar trend: Infrahumanization following harm did not occur in UK residents' perceptions of exploited textile workers in fast fashion supply chains. Again, awareness of harm led to greater attribution of negative emotions, regardless of emotion humanness or feeling responsible for it

Results of Study 1. Mean emotion attributions by harm condition, emotion humanness, and emotion valence in Study 1 are shown. We observed no evidence that collective responsibility for harm induced infrahumanization of the outgroup. Instead, residents of Lagos were thought to experience negative emotions to a greater extent and positive emotions to a lesser extent when harm to them was made salient. Note: Error bars represent ±1 SE. Shared = emotions shared with other animals. *** denotes p < .001; NS denotes non-significant.

In Study 1, this effect failed to replicate in UK residents’ perceptions of the emotions felt by people in Lagos, Nigeria, a city especially vulnerable to climate change. Regardless of responsibility or emotion humanness, one's awareness of outgroup harm led to more negative emotions being perceived

Does feeling collective responsibility for intergroup harm lead to infrahumanization? Previous research has suggested that subtle dehumanization can occur as a consequence of harming others. According to this research, participants who feel a sense of collective responsibility for thei...

Does being reminded of your ingroup's role in the harm experienced by outgroup members lead you to see them as feeling less 'human' emotions? Looking at inequalities arising from climate change and fast fashion, our new paper at @plosone.org challenges this earlier claim in #dehumanization research.

Stop Hungary’s Pride Ban – Defend LGBT+ Rights Now Hungary has banned Pride marches, threatening LGBT+ rights and the freedom to protest. Sign the petition now to urge the EU to act before it’s too late. Every voice matters – help defend human rights ...

Hungary has banned Pride marches. It's a direct attack on LGBT+ rights and the freedom to protest. Sign now to demand EU action before May 27! Help protect human rights and keep Pride alive. a.allout.org/s/WZRVR/

🚨In Science🚨
Conspiracy beliefs famously resist correction, ya?
WRONG: We show brief convos w GPT4 reduce conspiracy beliefs by ~20%!
-Lasts over 2mo
-Works on entrenched beliefs
-Tailored AI response rebuts specific evidence offered by believers
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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[X->BSky repost]

One week left to apply!

#phdsky #psychjob #socialpsyc

I'd like to be added too please :)

Over 100 social psychologists in this new Starter Pack, with more being added.

Let me know if you want to be included!

#SocialPsyc #Psychology #AcademicSky 🧪

How to Overcome Ideological Divides and the Climate of Contempt David Spence joins me to discuss his book, the U.S. election results, energy policymaking, the deep ideological divides in America, and how to bridge those divides.

This is the podcast for the moment. Where else can you absorb the wisdom of Ted Lasso and Learned Hand on an energy podcast? Loved this conversation with @davidspence.bsky.social

How to Overcome Ideological Divides and the Climate of Contempt
www.douglewin.com/p/how-to-ove...

We've written a Researcher's Guide to Bluesky!

It's a bit like all those other useful guides to Bluesky, but with several useful insights from University of York academics about using the platform, and we'd love it if it was reposted far and wide...

>> blogs.york.ac.uk/library/2024...

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