Who is he?
(download a short bio here)
Dr Daniel Jolley is a social psychologist who takes a unique experimental approach to study the social psychological consequences of conspiracy theories.
He is an Assistant Professor in Social Psychology at the University of Nottingham, where he joined the School of Psychology in February 2022. Before joining Nottingham, Daniel held academic posts at Northumbria University (Senior Lecturer, 2019 - 2022) and Staffordshire University (Lecturer in Psychology, 2015 - 2017; Senior Lecturer, 2017 - 2019). Before his lectureships, Daniel was employed as a Research Associate at Lancaster University (2014 - 2015), working alongside Prof. Paul Taylor and industry partners.
Daniel was awarded his social psychology PhD from the University of Kent in 2015. His PhD aimed to examine and attempt to address the social-psychological consequences of conspiracy theories. Since then, he has gained international recognition as an expert in conspiracy theory psychology. His ongoing research continues to employ experimental methodologies to scrutinize the societal repercussions of conspiracy theories while also developing tools to mitigate their adverse effects. Daniel has a strong publication record of high-quality publications (>27 journal publications, >4,627
citations) and has received research funding from organizations such as the Leverhulme Trust and the British Academy (>300k in total funding). He has also been awarded funding for several public engagement initiatives (>10k in total funding), such as part of ESRC's Festival of Social Sciences. Daniel also created and hosts Notts Psych Pod, the first podcast from the School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham. The podcast is a key platform for showcasing cutting-edge psychological research to non-academic audiences, including policymakers, prospective students, and the general public.
Daniel has a passion for science communication, where he is often invited to give talks to stakeholders (e.g., Police Communicators at their Annual Conference) and the general public (e.g., Cheltenham Science Festival), and due to the timely and newsworthy nature of his research, he is regularly invited to speak to a variety of media outlets including TV, radio and print/digital media - for example, he has appeared on the popular U.S TV show Adam Ruins Everything, and recently his research has been featured on BBC One Show, BBC News, Sky News, TalkTV, City News (Toronto), CGTN (Europe), in New York Times, The Guardian, Financial Times, Huffington Post and Discover Magazine. He has given multiple live radio interviews, including appearing on BBC Five Live, TalkRADIO, BBC Scotland, and more than 25 BBC UK Local stations. Over the last two years, his media engagement reached just shy of 1 billion people (verified by UoN Press Office).
He has also given many public talks on his research (e.g., New Scientist Live, Cheltenham Science Festival, Standon Calling; in excess of 60 in total) and actively works to use alternative outputs to communicate his research, such as commissioning artists to draw his research (thanks to I’m a Scientist for supporting this). With colleagues, he also developed the Kitchen Conspiracy, an outreach exhibit to introduce conspiracy theories.
Building on his science communication expertise, in 2024, he co-developed and launched a third-year specialist module on applying social psychology to societal issues. The module embedded public engagement skill development, culminating in an innovative assessment where students wrote for a lay audience. Supported by Assignment Preparation sessions, evaluations showed significant improvements in students' confidence and proficiency in communication skills, with 100% reporting improved abilities in 2024. The module has been praised for its unique structure and skill-building focus.
In recognition of these achievements, he has been shortlisted for three Knowledge Exchange and Impact Awards at the University of Nottingham, including the Rising Star Award (2024) and the Best Public Engagement Initiative (2024).
Daniel is a Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol) and Associate Fellow (AFBPsS) of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and a Fellow of HEA (FHEA). Daniel is an active member of the BPS, where he served for ten years on the BPS Social Psychology Section in various roles. He has also been an active member of an interdisciplinary COST network, Comparative Analysis of Conspiracy Theories. Broadly, Daniel is active in community service, where he has acted as a peer reviewer at over 70 journals and is currently an Associate Editor at the Journal of Applied Social Psychology (JASP) and the British Journal of Social Psychology (BJSP). He is an experienced mentor of undergraduate, postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers. Upholding academic quality, he is currently an Examiner Examiner for the MSc in Social and Applied Psychology at the University of East Anglia (UEA). He also has experience as an external and internal PhD examiner.
Want to learn more about the psychology of conspiracy theories?
Daniel has written for the Conversation on conspiracy theories (> 700,000 reads) and blogs at conspiracypsychology.com. He also gives regular public talks, alongside appearing on TV, radio, print/digital media, and podcasts. You can watch some clips under the "Media" tab. You can also follow Daniel's updates on X/Twitter.
