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Mikey Biddlestone

@mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social
2.4K followers 798 following 90 posts

Research Associate @COSPIRACY_FX @KentPsychology @UniKent. Studying Misinformation | Conspiracy Beliefs | Political Psychology (he/him).

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Reposted by Mikey Biddlestone
JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Check out some more coverage of a recent paper we published by @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social @unikent.bsky.social & colleagues about how to beat misinformation! holistic.news/en/recognizi...
holistic.news
Recognizing Fake News: An Open Mind Can Help
Recognizing fake news is a challenge. An experiment based on open-minded thinking showed that you don't need much to help yourself.
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Mikey Biddlestone @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
🚨New open access paper out in BJP special issue "Psychological Understanding of Misinformation and Disinformation in the Face of Environmental Crises"! “Fighting fire with fire: Prebunking with the use of a plausible meta-conspiracy framing” 🧵👇 1/12 📖 doi.org/10.1111/bjop...
Landing page for our article "Fighting fire with fire: Prebunking with the use of a plausible meta-conspiracy framing" published in the British Journal of Psychology
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Mikey Biddlestone @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Our recent paper on improving AOT and reducing #misinformation susceptibility with prebunking (@rakoenmaertens.bsky.social @profsanderlinden.bsky.social et al.) was picked up by @psypost.bsky.social! www.psypost.org/a-simple-cog...
psypost.org
A simple cognitive vaccine can make you more resistant to misinformation
A recent study tested whether people can be “inoculated” against misinformation by shifting how they think. The results suggest that boosting open-minded thinking through a simple message can reduce c...
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Mikey Biddlestone @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
Our article "Norm-enhanced prebunking for actively open-minded thinking indirectly improves misinformation discernment and reduces conspiracy beliefs" has now been published open access in JESP! @rakoenmaertens.bsky.social @profsanderlinden.bsky.social authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S00… 🧵👇
authors.elsevier.com
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Mikey Biddlestone @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
🚨New paper🚨Tune in to the prebunking network! Development and validation of six inoculation videos that prebunk manipulation tactics and logical fallacies in misinformation 1/17 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Landing page for our new open access article “Tune in to the prebunking network! Development and validation of six inoculation videos that prebunk manipulation tactics and logical fallacies in misinformation”, published in Political Psychology.
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Mikey Biddlestone @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Our meta-analysis "Reasons to believe: A systematic review and meta-analytic synthesis of the motives associated with conspiracy beliefs" is now published at Psychological Bulletin! Please refer to this thread, ResearchGate, and PsyArXiv for details! psycnet.apa.org/record/2025-...
Landing page for our article "Reasons to believe: A systematic review and meta-analytic synthesis of the motives associated with conspiracy beliefs"
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Reposted by Mikey Biddlestone
Petter Törnberg @pettertornberg.com · 14/01/2025
Misinformation isn't random - it's strategic. 🧵 In the first cross-national comparative study, we examine 32M tweets from politicians. We find that misinformation is not a general condition: it is driven by populist radical right parties. with @julianachueri.bsky.social doi.org/10.1177/1940...
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Mikey Biddlestone @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Our work with the Digipatch team was picked up by IFLScience! www.iflscience.com/how-to-deal-... "People who are motivated by obtaining power...may share misinformation...as a form of brokerage to gain a following". Read our full paper here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
iflscience.com
How To Deal With The Misinformation-Spreading Conspiracy Theorist In Your Life This Holiday
Conspiracies over the Christmas cake? Misinformation with your mince pies? Here are ways to deal with difficult conversations this holiday season.
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Reposted by Mikey Biddlestone
Prof Aleksandra Cichocka @alekscichocka.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
A few years ago, Douglas, Sutton and I suggested that conspiracy beliefs might be linked to epistemic needs (to feel informed), existential needs (to feel secure), and social needs (to feel valued). journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... Two new papers with our collaborators examine this claim 1/8
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Mikey Biddlestone @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
🚨Our meta-analysis of the motives associated with conspiracy beliefs has been accepted at Psychological Bulletin!🚨“Reasons to believe: A systematic review and meta-analytic synthesis of the motives associated with conspiracy beliefs” osf.io/preprints/ps... 🧵👇 1/16
Abstract for our accepted pre-print of Reasons to believe: A systematic review and meta-analytic synthesis of the motives associated with conspiracy beliefs
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Mikey Biddlestone @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Really cool work on the effect of conspiracy theory exposure on intentions to use alternative medicines! Only the fictitious scenario had an effect. Super important component of research designs to take into consideration for people examining the effects of exposure to conspiracy theories 👇
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Mikey Biddlestone @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Hi Bluesky and newcomers! 👋I'm a #misinformation researcher with the CONSPIRACY_FX team at the University of Kent. Here's a paper we recently published with the magnificent @paulbertin.bsky.social and Ricky Green on social identity responses to the announcement of the European Super League 👇
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Reposted by Mikey Biddlestone
Prof Aleksandra Cichocka @alekscichocka.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Our new paper led by Wojtek Podsiadlowski shows that avoidant coping is yet another reason those high in narcissism are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories: doi.org/10.1111/bjso... Avoidant coping also partially explains the link between narcissism and anti-social online behaviours.
doi.org
<em>British Journal of Social Psychology</em> | Wiley Online Library
Previous research linked counternormative tendencies (e.g., conspiracy beliefs, cyberbullying, and catfishing) to narcissism—a personality trait characterized by difficulties in experiencing psycholo...
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Mikey Biddlestone @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social · 10/11/2024
🚨Check out our new pre-print!🚨 “Norm-enhanced prebunking for actively open-minded thinking indirectly improves misinformation discernment and reduces conspiracy beliefs” 1/9 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
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Reposted by Mikey Biddlestone
Nick Byrd, Ph.D. @byrdnick.com · 10/10/2024
The #CrankyUncles mobile app for training critical thinking and overcoming misinformation has been adapted to improve vaccine attitudes in Ghana: doi.org/10.1080/2164... #edu #health #publicHealth #decisionScience #medicine #bioethics #software #UI #tech
Pages 3 and 4Pages 5 and 6Pages 7 and 8Pages 9 and 10
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Mikey Biddlestone @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social · 10/10/2024
Check out our new paper with the DigiPatch team in Computers in Human Behavior “Why do People Share (Mis)Information? Power Motives in Social Media”. We investigate the role of power motives in sharing (mis)information on social media 1/9 doi.org/10.1016/j.ch...
Landing page for our article "Why do people share (mis)information? Power motives in social media" in Computers in Human Behavior
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