Recent research concerns both conspiracy theories and truth assessment. The former work has involved tests of our "gateway conspiracy" hypothesis, which proposes that belief in a given conspiracy theory opens the door to further conspiracist ideation and belief in other unrelated conspiracy theories. Supportive evidence has been observed in the context of conspiracy beliefs regarding COVID-19. Current research aims to illuminate the mechanisms underlying this downward spiral. Our interest in truth assessment stems from research my lab conducted during the pandemic; the data revealed that acceptance of misinformation about the virus was a strong, prospective predictor of the likelihood of contracting COVID. People have a strong tendency to assume that statements to which they are exposed are true. We have designed an intervention that serves to reduce this truth bias. By providing people with intensive, trial-by-trial feedback indicating that their assumptions of truth regarding a set of urban myths were actually incorrect, we have found that we reduce the likelihood that they will subsequently assume that false assertions are true. Current research is examining the intervention in the context of politically-aligned statements.

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Granados Samayoa, J. A., Moore, C. A., Ruisch, B. C., Boggs, S. T., Ladanyi, J. T., & Fazio, R. H. (2022). A gateway conspiracy? Belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories prospectively predicts greater conspiracist ideation. PLoS ONE, 17(10): e0275502. DOI. 

Moore, C. A., Ruisch, B. C., Granados Samayoa, J. A., Boggs, S. T., Ladanyi, J. T., & Fazio, R. H. (2021). Contracting COVID-19: A longitudinal investigation of the impact of beliefs and knowledge. Scientific Reports, 11, 20460. DOI.

Ruisch, B. C., Moore, C. A., Granados Samayoa, J. A., Boggs, S. T., Ladanyi, J. T., & Fazio, R. H. (2021). Examining the left-right divide through the lens of a global crisis: Ideological differences and their implications for responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Political Psychology, 42, 795-816. DOI.