Dr Elaine Fox, Professor of Experimental Psychology, and one of Univ’s newest Special Supernumerary Fellows features in the BBC World Service’s latest instalment of The Why Factor.

In the episode – entitled Fear VS Facts – presenter Mike Williams asks if we now live in a post-factual age — where messages of fear dominate and the truth goes unspoken or unheard. He investigates the “Backfire Effect” which means that entrenched views can become more entrenched – when confronted by contradictory facts. Politicians are often accused of distorting the truth with Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump the latest.

Dr Fox comments: “Fear is a very powerful emotion – I guess the first thing to remember is the reason all of us are here is because our ancestors had very effective threat detective systems…”

Listen to the show in its entirety here.

Published: 8 August 2016

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