Bio

Starting in Fall 2025, Cameron S. Kay will join the Climate Cognition Lab at Stanford University as a postdoctoral scholar. His research explores the psychological foundations of antisocial beliefs and behaviours, including why people believe in conspiracy theories, harbour prejudicial beliefs, and gaslight others. To support this work, he develops psychometrically sound scales and tools for improving data quality. Before joining Stanford, Cameron was a visiting assistant professor at Union College in Upstate New York. He earned his PhD in psychology with a specialization in quantitative research methods at the University of Oregon, where he also completed master’s degrees in psychology and journalism. He holds a BA in psychology from the University of British Columbia.

Professional Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Oregon (2023)
  • Master of Science, University of Oregon (2018)
  • Master of Arts, University of Oregon (2018)
  • Ph.D., University of Oregon, Psychology (2023)
  • M.S., University of Oregon, Psychology (2018)
  • M.A., University of Oregon, Journalism (2018)
  • B.A., University of British Columbia, Psychology (2015)

Stanford Advisors

Contact

  • Academic
    ckay@stanford.edu
    University - Scholar Department: Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability Position: Postdoctoral Scholar

Additional Info

Links

All Publications

  • Antecedents and consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs: A systematic review. Social science & medicine (1982) van Mulukom, V., Pummerer, L. J., Alper, S., Bai, H., Cavojova, V., Farias, J., Kay, C. S., Lazarevic, L. B., Lobato, E. J., Marinthe, G., Pavela Banai, I., Srol, J., Zezelj, I. 2022; 301: 114912

    Abstract

    RATIONALE: Belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories can have severe consequences; it is therefore crucial to understand this phenomenon, in its similarities with general conspiracy belief, but also in how it is context-dependent.OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the available research on COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and to synthesise this research to make it widely accessible.METHODS: We present a synthesis of COVID-19 conspiracy belief research from 85 international articles, identified and appraised through a systematic review, in line with contemporary protocols and guidelines for systematic reviews.RESULTS: We identify a number of potential antecedents of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs (individual differences, personality traits, demographic variables, attitudes, thinking styles and biases, group identity, trust in authorities, and social media use), their consequences (protective behaviours, self-centred and misguided behaviours such as hoarding and pseudoscientific health practices, vaccination intentions, psychological wellbeing, and other negative social consequences such as discrimination and violence), and the effect sizes of their relations with the conspiracy beliefs.CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that understanding both the potential antecedents and consequences of conspiracy beliefs and how they are context-dependent is highly important to tackle them, whether in the COVID-19 pandemic or future threats, such as that of climate change.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114912

    View details for PubMedID 35354105

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5210-427X