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Robert Brennan

@robraonain.bsky.social

1.8K followers 1.6K following 9 posts

Social psychologist | Postdoc Researcher in Political Communication at the DCU Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society (FuJo) | Public deliberation, Misinformation, Climate Change, Intergroup attitudes, Politics, Prejudice | He/him Views my own

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Robert Brennan @robraonain.bsky.social · Jun 11

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

Dublin City University @dublincityuni.bsky.social · Jun 11

How many people in Ireland believe in conspiracy theories?
Piece by Dr Robert Brennan @robraonain.bsky.social and Rabhya Mehrotra @fujomedia.bsky.social for @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social.
Read here: launch.dcu.ie/45iz4DZ
#RTEBrainstorm

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Reposted by Robert Brennan

FuJo @fujomedia.bsky.social · Jun 11

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...

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

www.rte.ie

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Robert Brennan @robraonain.bsky.social · Jun 11

Dublin City University @dublincityuni.bsky.social · Jun 11

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Reposted by Robert Brennan

RTÉ Brainstorm @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social · Jun 10

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...

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

www.rte.ie

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Reposted by Robert Brennan

FuJo @fujomedia.bsky.social · Jun 5

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...

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Reposted by Robert Brennan

Dublin City University @dublincityuni.bsky.social · Jun 5

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

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Reposted by Robert Brennan

RTÉ Brainstorm @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social · Jun 5

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...

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

www.rte.ie

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Robert Brennan @robraonain.bsky.social · May 30

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

Robert Brennan @robraonain.bsky.social · May 30

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.

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.

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Robert Brennan @robraonain.bsky.social · May 30

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 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.

Robert Brennan @robraonain.bsky.social · May 30

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 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.

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Robert Brennan @robraonain.bsky.social · May 30

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

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.

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Robert Brennan @robraonain.bsky.social · May 30

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.

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...

doi.org

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Robert Brennan @robraonain.bsky.social · May 22

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/

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 ...

a.allout.org

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Reposted by Robert Brennan

David Rand @dgrand.bsky.social · Dec 16

🚨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/...
1/
[X->BSky repost]

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Lusine Grigoryan @grigolus.bsky.social · Jan 6

One week left to apply!

#phdsky #psychjob #socialpsyc

Lusine Grigoryan @grigolus.bsky.social · Dec 16

❗2-year postdoc at the University of York❗
I am looking for a postdoc for my ERC-funded project “The many faces of prejudice: the “what”, the “why”, and the “how” of inferences we make from membership in social groups”.
To learn more and apply (by Jan 13): jobs.york.ac.uk/vacancy/rese...
#psychjobs

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Robert Brennan @robraonain.bsky.social · Nov 21

I'd like to be added too please :)

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Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · Sep 14

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 🧪

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Doug Lewin @douglewin.bsky.social · Nov 14

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...

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.

www.douglewin.com

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Reposted by Robert Brennan

University of York Library @uoylibrary.bsky.social · Nov 13

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...

🧵 below

The Researcher’s Guide to Bluesky – The Library, Learning, Archives and Wellbeing Blog

blogs.york.ac.uk

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