With so much information being promulgated through social media or elsewhere, from the pandemic and politics and beyond, misinformation is rampant – and has impact. When misinformation is disseminated, it has an impact psychologically, leaving an imprint that may be hard to erase. Conspiracy theories are particularly problematic. I discuss the roots of these beliefs and then turn to two commonly proposed solutions to correct conspiracy beliefs: Inducing trust and increasing critical evaluation.
Dr. Dolores Albarracín, Ph.D. is an Argentine-American Professor of Psychology and Business Administration. Trained in social and clinical psychology, she directs the Social Action Lab and the Health Social Media and Technology Group, where she studies social cognition and action, communication, misinformation, as well as attitudinal and behavioral change. She applies her theoretical contributions to the domains of HIV, substance use, vaccines, and COVID-19. Dr. Albarracín received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and was previously a tenured professor at the University of Florida and at the University of Pennsylvania. Her publications include 6 books and about 180 journal articles and book chapters. She has been editor-in-chief of Psychological Bulletin (2014-2020) and received awards for Outstanding Mid-Career Contributions to the Psychology of Attitudes and Social Influence and to Social Psychology from the Society of Social and Personality Psychology, as well as an Avant Garde Award from the National Interest of Drug Abuse. Her research is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
