Just published:
Jolley D, Dinnick I, Burgin L, Ryan S, Morgan-Finn O, Muncer S.
Investigating the link between sleep quality and belief in conspiracy theories. Journal of Health Psychology. 2025;
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13591053251320598.
"We found that poorer sleep quality and insomnia were positively correlated with conspiracy theory beliefs – conspiracy mentality and belief in specific conspiracy theories. A consistent indirect effect through depression was uncovered, although there were inconsistent indirect relationships between both sleep quality and insomnia with conspiracy beliefs for anger and paranoia. These findings suggest that improving sleep quality could reduce susceptibility to conspiracy theories, highlighting the need for sleep-focused interventions."
“Sleep is crucial for mental health and cognitive functioning,” explained Dr Daniel Jolley, Assistant Professor in Social Psychology and the research team leader. “Poor sleep has been shown to increase the risk of depression, anxiety, and paranoia – factors that also contribute to conspiracy beliefs. Our research suggests that improving sleep quality could serve as a protective factor against the spread of conspiratorial thinking”
There is a mountain of psychological and sociological literature addressing the conspiracy-prone mindset. If you don't think it's a major factor within conspiracy communities, you have your head in the sand.
For the record, Mr. and Mrs. Factoid Buster are extreme "early to bed, early to rise" folks. Hence the preternatural rationality of my posts and the exceeding yumminess of Mrs. F's chicken pot pies.
