PhD in Social Psychology. Teaching at UIC. Researching how context predicts conspiracy belief and doing some metascience. They/Them/Theirs
Joined September 2015
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JP Prims retweeted
Most people know “groupthink” emerges in tightly knit groups when pressures for unanimity and conformity override individual members’ better judgment. A desire for group cohesion causes people to self-censor their doubts. Unexpressed, the absence of divergent views causes groups to become too confident in the wisdom of their choices.
However, the idea of groupthink is based on a myth. Many famous cases of groupthink—like the infamous Bay of Pigs invasion—were actually the result of “politicothink”. In this case, it was not the desire for conformity that led to terrible collective decisions, but an obsession with the political consequences of the decision.
We debunk this popular myth and explain the different pathways to bad group decisions in our latest newsletter: powerofusnewsletter.com/p/de…
Had the absolutely delightful opportunity to talk to Lisa Desjardins about conspiracy theories for PBS News Hour today!
Definitely one of the coolest opportunities I've had. I'm super grateful. I appear briefly towards the end of this segment:
youtube.com/watch?v=FfzVHEJU…
JP Prims retweeted
🚨Out 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
science.org/doi/10.1126/scie…
1/
I really need to get rolling on studying book banning and "moral" censorship. I've been meaning to get into it for ages now, but I really need to pick up the pace.
This is wild, and I'm so curious if this form is real. (I know the ban of Sasaki and Miyano is a real thing that happened.)
What gets me is the "alternatives."
Sailor Moon, which has lesbians, gender fluid characters, and underage sex.
Chainsaw man with its extreme gore,
grooming, and lesbian character who's introduced having an orgy with four other women.
A Silent Voice, where a major character attempts suicide after years of relentless bullying.
The Seven Deadly Sins with a main character who constantly sexually harasses the main girl.
JP Prims retweeted
This has been about 4 years in the making : 150+ contributors from more than 2 dozen countries and 6 continents. Article is Open Access here: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.…
PRESS RELEASE: Oxford-led Study Calls for End to “Medically Unnecessary” Intersex Surgeries buff.ly/3XxEsyZ
JP Prims retweeted
All eyes on Chicago! UIC is hiring an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology: uic.csod.com/ux/ats/careersi…
Open to all areas and particular interest in: (1) Health psych; (2) Implementation science; (3) Person/community-centered intervention development. Pls spread the word!
JP Prims retweeted
New paper out! We find that, while uncertainty language and negative sentiment on X increased for COVID-19 and 2020 US elections, during the Capitol attack, the link reversed! Moral outrage, anger and fear spiked, and uncertainty language went down.
psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?d…
JP Prims retweeted
Social media is currently inundated with speculation, conspiracy theories, hate, disinformation of all stripes about Donald Trump at the Pennsylvania rally.
I investigate this and it has real-world consequences. Interrogate your sources and feeds - and wait for reliable updates.
For the record, this is a pattern: People seem to have conspiracy "templates" that they can apply whenever an incident occurs. I've seen things like "false flag" and "crisis actors" start trending before a mass shooting is even over.
Users seem to use these templates like-
Resist the urge to go on the defensive for your group. That way lies the conspiracy rabbithole.
Try to find as nonpartisan-as-possible sources of information.
It's tempting to find a quick explanation- these days we're used to having a lot of information at our fingertips.
JP Prims retweeted
People trust "community notes" more than flags to warn against misinformation because of the additional context rather than source trust, with results holding across partisanship, finds @chrdrlsbch Solovev @NicProllochs in @PNASNexus doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pg…
ALT Community notes increase trust in fact-checking on social media
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